Dangers & Dragons
by DrawnInTwilight
Summary: Keeping peace in his family, King Philip secretly takes his son across the empire's boarders to visit the island of Berk to learn about dragons. When the king is summoned away, Prince Stephan is left in the company of a less than enthusiastic Hiccup. But when the two boys face a threat bigger than their conflicting views, they have to work together to survive!
1. Chapter 1

**Mousedom: Dangers and Dragons (part 1)**

"Father, did you know there are Vikings in Norway?"

King Philip blinked at the Mouse Times and looked up to see his thirteen year old son, long and lanky, lounging upside-down next to him in the spacious study, his head where his knees should be and his feet dangling over the top of the high-backed chair. The blonde boy waited patiently for his dad to answer, absently playing with the most recent addition to his collection-a miniature replica of the trolley that runs its route through the Magic Kingdom. A birthday gift from his soon to be brother-in-law, Prince Dorian.

"Yes," Philip said slowly, raising an eyebrow in question at the boy. "I did know that. Why do you ask?"

"Have they always lived there?"

"I believe so... Why?"

"Did you ever go to one of their islands up north?"

"Why-?"

"Did you know one of the islands has Dragons?"

"Alright, Stephan," King Philip said with a sigh, setting aside his paper to look at the boy better. "What's this about?"

Prince Stephan swung himself upright and slouched back against the chair, still spinning the wheels on the little trolley. "I heard that one of the islands has trained them."

"The Vikings?" Philip asked, completely bemused as he stared at the boy.

"No, they're the ones who trained them," Stephan clarified slightly.

"Who?"

"The dragons, Father!"

"Ah, yes," Philip said, trying not to roll his eyes. "I heard something like that too. And why are you so interested in dragons?"

"Can we go see them?" Stephan asked hopefully.

"What?" Philip stared. This was the same boy that had been kidnaped by Maleficent, right? And he was now asking to go see dragons?

"Would you take me with you out to Berk and see them?" Stephan reiterated.

"Berk?" Philip repeated, sifting through his thoughts to place the name. "You mean out in the realm of Dreamworks? Stephan, that's further than the Bluthia territories!"

"Just past Russia," Stephan agreed with a nod, but his eyes were glistening with excitement. "We could just take the Norway portal and then sail up to Berk, then ask if we can ride dragons back to Norway and be home before Dettie's done with her fittings!"

"I see, and have you told this idea to your mother?"

"Umm... well..."

Philip chuckled and shook his head. "I'll take that as a 'no'. Might I suggest that you ask?"

"But she'll say no!" Stephan groaned.

"You don't know that," Philip said, returning his attention to the newspaper. "She could surprise you."

"Yeah, by announcing I have to go to Paris for clothes too," the prince said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

~~°o°~~

"No," Queen Aurora said firmly. "No. Absolutely not."

"Rose-," Philip tried to intervene, failing miserably as his wife narrowed her eyes at him across the long dinner table.

"We just got him back from one of those monsters," she reminded him. "And you want to send him gallivanting off towards another one?"

"That was years ago," Stephan said defiantly from his place, across from his sister (who was wisely keeping quite) in the center of the table. "And that was a sorceress who wants to kill off our family."

"Wanted, son," Philip corrected quickly. "We did away with her this time."

"You can't prove that," Aurora snapped at her husband.

"It's a weekend up to the Arctic," Philip said calmly directing the conversation back to the idea of Berk. "Its not like there'll be anything for him to do around here."

"Who says he'd be staying here this weekend anyway?" Aurora asked indignantly. "He's coming into Paris with me and Odette."

"He wasn't," Philip said with a sigh.

"Well, he is now," Aurora insisted. "I've decided he needs new clothes for-uh-next season."

"Autumn?" Philip offered.

"Yes! For Autumn! And his riding boots are in horrible condition-."

"So take my boots with you! I won't be on horseback in Norway," Stephan argued. "And you know my sizes anyway!"

"You're coming," Aurora repeated with a finality that ended all discussion for the rest of the meal.

**A/N:** There are two reactions to fear - let it shape your decisions or force it to make you stronger. Aka the sides Aurora and Stephan are fighting on. Hope you guys enjoy as I go traipsing across boundaries...


	2. Chapter 2

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part2)**

By time the weekend arrived, Stephan and Aurora had been having such strong arguments that Philip actually had to cancel plans for discussing trade negotiations with the EPCOT council in favor of staying home to keep a war from breaking out between them. He guessed being in the middle was the worst place to be for the argument, but it helped him work out a plan—along with a very timely letter from King Derek over in the northern corner of Bluthia.

Derek had become a fairly close friend of Philip's over the years, having met back when they were in their early 20's and Derek had contacted him in research on some unnamed beast that had attacked a neighboring king. As it turned out, the strange beast had actually kidnaped the princess that eventually became Derek's bride, having turned her into a swan to keep her from leaving a castle ruin in the wilderness between the two kingdoms. Then, of course, Philip had faced off against Maleficent to rescue Aurora.

Since then, the two couples continually visited each other, even when they'd formed families—which was actually how Philip's daughter was named "Odette." So it was almost painfully obvious when Derek wrote Philip about a father/sons bonding trip he'd taken with his six boys while his queen had done something or other with their daughter, Eliza. What would be better than taking Stephan for a visit?

He broached the topic that Thursday night, after Aurora and Stephan had finished their row about whether or not Stephan would pack for the weekend. The queen was glaring at her knitting as her needles clicked together. She wasn't exactly good at knitting, even worse at embroidery thanks to that situation with the spinning wheel. But Philip kept his comments wisely to himself, letting her do battle with the wild mess of yarn until she sighed and tossed it out of her lap to stare out the window.

"Something wrong, dear?" he asked, pretending to be reading through Derek's letter for the first time as he sipped his coffee.

Aurora sighed. "It's Stephan," she said dismally. "I just don't know what to do with him. Why is everything with him full of so much conflict?"

"He's a teenager," Philip said with a chuckle, remembering how he and his father continually locked horns—so to speak. "He's just trying to find out who he is."

The queen rolled her eyes at him. "As future king of this section of the Empire, he needs to find out sooner and not by fighting every decision we make for him."

Philip hummed indifferently and glanced up at his beautiful wife to make sure his timing was right. Then he leaned forward. "Hey, listen to this," he said sounding delighted. "Derek took the boys out hunting for a week. He says it was a great time and that their second son—Rory—is actually much more agreeable now."

Aurora continued to stare out the window for a moment or two before looking at him with a curiosity boarding suspicion. But then she looked thoughtful. "Is he?"

"So Derek says," Philip said. "It sounds like a good deal of bonding happened on that trip."

The queen's eyes flickered from the paper her husband held and to her husband's face, then back again. Then she snatched the letter away to read it for herself. Philip sat back and let her ponder the numerous ideas that must have been fluttering through her pretty mind.

"You know," he said slowly, as though mulling the idea over for the first time while he swirled the coffee in his mug. "That might be an idea for Stephan, instead of dragging him shopping."

"What?"

"I'll take him out to Bluthia," Philip said. "For a week or two. That'll give you extra time in Paris, you can go visit Belle and Adam's lot, and maybe I can convince Stephan to be more agreeable."

Several moments of thought passed, but eventually Aurora gave him a determined look. "Alright," she said finally. "In the morning, you two head to Bluthia and Odette and I will meet up with you in two weeks."

~~°o°~~

Philip was up half the night after that conversation, making as many contacts as possible (and as discreetly as possible) to arrange their trip. But by morning, tired and in need of a rather large pot of coffee or possibly that caffeine patch some doctor had attempted making years ago, King Philip and his son waved good-bye to the women in their family before climbing into their own carriage.

Not even twenty minutes in, though he was fighting to stay awake, Philip looked over at his forlorn son and raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter, Stephan?" he asked. "I thought you'd be happy to go somewhere other than to Paris."

"Yeah," Stephan said, his chin in his hand as he leaned on the carriage window. "Great."

"Would it be better if I told you where we're heading?" Philip asked, stretching out so his legs rested atop the seat across from them.

Stephan gave him a curious frown. "I thought we were going to Uncle Derek's."

"Oh, well, yes, we are," Philip said, stifling a yawn. "Eventually."

"Eventually?"

"Mm-hmm." Philip settled deeper into his seat, his eyes closing. "Maybe in a week and a half."

"What?" Stephan asked, his eyes wide as he sat up straight again. But King Philip was already asleep.

~~°o°~~

"You know," Hiccup said as he followed Astrid up the cliff, they were on the clean up crew from the most recent storm that had managed to destroy a few houses. "Ever since news of our dragons reached Far Far Away, we've been getting alot more visitors."

"Really," Astrid said and Hiccup got the slight sensation that she didn't care.

"Yeah," he said, continuing anyway as she tossed a piece of wood atop the pile he held. "First it was those two-uh-Ogres? Was it? And their cat. And then that guy with the long nose and his daughters who kept trying to steel a dragon-and the pink one tried to stuff me into her suitcase. And now some king is on his way."

"Uh-huh," was Astrid's agreement. "With the prince in tow. Why is it bothering you? Its not like they stay for long."

Hiccup frowned, but she quickly blocked his face from view by adding half a shutter to the pile. "Because," he griped behind the wood. "This time it's a Disney King. This time it's part of an entirely different empire! Our clans used to attack a corner of their empire!"

"You're just paranoid because the King is bringing his son along," Astrid said blandly and added a few more planks to her pack-mule.

Hiccup nearly dropped everything. "How-wha-You-." He paused to think for a moment, then frowned. "You knew everything already, didn't you."

"Yep!" Astrid announced brightly. "I hear the prince is tall and handsome and good with a sword. And that the king is too."

"Great," Hiccup grumbled. Just what he needed, another person his father could wish was a son in place of him.

"Just watch," Astrid said, adding a last couple pieces of debris to Hiccup's pile. "You're panicking for nothing."

~~°o°~~

Stephan could barely keep still. Not only was he going against his mother's orders, but his father was helping him do it. And now, while his sister and mother were off in Paris for gown fittings and other wedding stuff that he didn't care about, Stephan and his father were traveling in disguise across Bluthia and into the Dreamworks Realm.

King Philip had woken up after an extra hour or two nap to break the news of where they were really going. At which point, Stephan had nearly jumped out of the carriage to burn off the excited energy. Then he asked his father as many questions as he could think of.

The only problem with sneaking across to Dreamworks, was that they couldn't take the way Stephan had suggested (cutting through Norway and across a corner of Bluthia). Instead they had to burn two days going back-roads from EPCOT France. By the third day, their carriage rumbled to a stop just outside Bluthia's Russia.

Whether their royal escort knew what they were doing or not, Stephan had no idea, but apparently they were fine not arguing with the King's orders to leave them dressed in common clothes with only a few days' change of clothes and a pair of horses. Then the king had sent their entire company, guards and all, off to Uncle Derek's kingdom.

"Well," Philip said as they crested a hill that over-looked an area far different than Stephan had ever seen. "What do you think of your first view of Dreamworks?"

Stephan could just stare wordlessly. "Wow."

King Philp chuckled and ruffled his son's hair. "C'mon," he said, urging his horse forward after they'd stared a little while longer. "We've got to be at their Norse port by noon today."

Prince Stephan took one more look, then quickly followed. Ready for the next step in their adventure.

**A/N:** Hurray for swift thinking dads! :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part 3)**

"So," Gobber said slowly. "How do we know who we're looking for?"

Stoic the Vast shot him a glare, but even he had to admit there was no way in knowing.

"Excuse me, sirs," a tall man called to them as he approached. "Would you happen to be providing transportation to the Island of Berk?"

Stoic and Gobber exchanged glances. "Why are you trying to get to Berk?"

The man glanced over his shoulder and the one motion brought forward a boy who was lanky beneath his cloak and tall compared to his very young face. He was also dressed in old-fashioned, though plain, clothes of dull colors and could only be the man's son. To assure the fact, the man reached out and took hold of the boy's shoulder. "We've been traveling to see dragons," he said. "Its my son's birthday wish."

Again the two vikings exchanged looks and Gobber shrugged.

"You were waiting for travelers, weren't you?" the man asked with a tricky spark in his eyes, making Stoic study him closely.

"Actually we were waiting for a Ki-."

"Do you have a name, stranger?" Stoic asked, folding his arms and glaring.

But, strangely, the man wasn't put off by his typical viking demeanor (which was legendary for scaring the bravest of outsiders away). Instead, he seemed to find it welcoming. Or at least he'd been ready for it and gave them a smile. "My name is Philip," he said. "My son and I have come from a neighboring Empire, but that's all we'll say until we're safely away from the mainland."

As he talked, the man moved his hand, which still rested atop his son's shoulder, just slightly so that the golden ring next to his wedding band glinted in the sunlight. Gobber gave the man a strange look.

"O...kay. I don't-"

"Tell the men to ready the boat," Stoic said firmly, tuning to his friend. Gobber looked at him in confusion, but slowly nodded and turned to shout orders as he hobbled down the dock.

The boy muffled a chuckle as they watched him go and Philip gave him a gentile warning look. Stoic glanced down at the boy, taking in his blonde hair and violet eyes, and nodded. A brilliant smile was the boy's response and he started rocking in his stance ever so slightly.

Stoic nearly laughed. It was like watching the human form of Toothless when the dragon was excited about something. But his eyes caught a bright flash of pink in the crowds bustling around the harbor's shops and moments later Stoic picked out three fairly familiar shadows hiding behind a shop curtain.

"Is something wrong, sir?" the boy asked, a distinctly foreign accent to his voice, and looked back, too.

"No," Stoic assured him. "Not if they know what's good for them."

The boy exchanged looks with his father, but Philip's single eyebrow raising seemed to quell any questions that might have come to the boy's mind. So, instead, the boy cast another glance over his shoulder. Stoic glanced up too, discretely, and his suspicions were confirmed. He knew that pink knit hat as much as the dark scarf and black ponytail. They were trying to come back.

"Gobber?" Stoic shouted.

"Ready, Stoic!" was the response.

Stoic smirked, then turned to his guests. "Right this way," he said with a wide gesture towards the Viking ship. "The sooner we get going, the better."

Philip nodded in agreement, shifting the hold on his son to keep his arm across the boy's slender shoulders, and led the way onto the ship. Even as they set foot on deck, Stoic had detached the ship's ropes from the dock and shoved it off towards open water. With a running jump, he landed a few paces from their guests with a loud thud that made the ship rock, but all the Vikings took it in stride.

"Row, men!" he ordered as a commotion of voices came from the dock. "Take her to sea!"

"Stroke! C'mon, Lads! Stroke!" Gobber commanded, not sure why there was such an anxious tension in the air, but glad to have a reason to shout.

Philip glanced back in the direction that Stoic was watching and quickly pulled his son with him into the small stern of the ship and out of sight. Stoic remained standing, glaring back at the dock that was now several yards away.

Back on the dock, though, a long nosed man, who stood almost a head taller than most of the surrounding people, shouted after them in a thick accent (Russian, maybe) before pulling out some large form of gun to aim at the ship. Not hesitating, Stoic picked up one of his men's spears and hurled it back towards land.

The loud zapping sound followed by a violent string of words that he couldn't understand assured Stoic that the weapon in question had bit the dust. And so the long nosed man along with the two girls that took up either side of him faded into the distance.

When there was very little more than a speck to look back at, Stoic looked towards his new passengers. "They're gone."

"Thank you," Philip said, standing up straight again to glance back.

"Who were they?" the boy asked eagerly.

Stoic fought back a smile, though Philip cast his son a frown. "Professional villains," Stoic answered. "Falling into their hands isn't exactly wise."

"Aye, and neither is leaving behind royals from a different kingdom with them," Gobber said, entering the conversation briskly. "You know how highly desired people from the Disney Empire are to their kind."

"We didn't leave them behind," Stoic said, rolling his eyes.

"Then where are they?" Gobber asked.

"Right here," Stoic said as their guests pulled down their hoods. "King Philip and his son, Prince Stephan, from the EPCOT center of the Disney Empire."

Gobber and a few of the other vikings stared for a moment and the royal pair bowed to them. "Thank you for recognizing us," King Philip said, his accent showing more strongly as he reached forward to shake Stoic's hand. "We'd had a few other close calls on our way here."

Stoic nodded, noting the firm grip the other man had. "I don't envy King Artie's task of maintaining regulations," he commented. "The boarder patrols have been getting increasingly difficult. You were smart to come in disguise."

Philip nodded in appreciation, then looked out at the water. "How far is your island, Sir?"

"Call me Stoic, titles mean alot but aren't needed on Berk," he said, then combed a hand through his bushy beard as he calculated. "I think it stands at about three days rowing to get there-."

"Three days?!" Prince Stephan yelped, bringing chuckles from the men around him.

"Aye," Gobber said, clapping the prince on the shoulder. "Rowing's a tricky deal-ya have to worry about winds and tides and directions—it's a nightmare! But who said we were rowing the whole way?"

Prince Stephan blinked at him in confusion, which made the Viking laugh all the more.

"C'mon, boy, let's see if we can't get some more muscles on those bones of your's before we get there," Gobber said and, after a nod from the king, quickly toted the young prince off to help with rowing.

"How old is he?" Stoic asked as he and the king stood by to watch.

Philip smiled. "Just turned thirteen," he said as he watched his son attempt to help with the large oars of the ship. "Its good to get him away from his mother and sister every now and again."

Stoic nodded, remembering the letter he'd gotten when Shrek had last stopped by. As much as he wished his wife was still alive, he firmly believed that leaving a son in the hands of women all day was bad for its health. "Its a hard age," Stoic said finally. "Hiccup-my son-is around that age too. Just over fourteen, though... but why did you find it strange that he'd be interested in dragons?"

At this Philip chuckled. "Well, to be perfectly honest, our Empire's not really a good climate for dragons. And those that do exist aren't exactly good news in our kingdom," he said. "Actually, I don't think they're good news much of anywhere in the empire. Maybe in the United Kingdom, Arthur's reported a reluctant dragon living in the hills over there. But typically they're not associated with good. In particular, there's a witch who's plagued my wife's family from the day she was born, her alternate form is a dragon."

Stoic's eyebrows shot upward. No wonder Philip had reported his wife's reluctance. He was fairly sure if that was the case here, they definitely wouldn't have dragons for pets either.

"I'm glad he's shown this interest, though," Philip continued. "At least now I know he's not afraid of them."

"Best thing you can ask for," Stoic agreed.

Philip nodded, cracking a smile as his son was nearly lifted off the bench by the pressure against the oar.

~~°o°~~

The journey went well through to night-fall, during which Stephan was happily trying to soak in everything he was being told. The trek through Dreamworks had been hard enough, most of the time his father had insisted they travel off the beaten path and he'd banned Stephan from talking to anyone. At first the prince had been affronted, but after a slip up where he'd said thank you to a merchant (and was over heard and they were nearly uncovered), Stephan began to notice the different way that the people in this realm talked. Luckily King Philip had been able to mimic the rhythm and sounded like he belonged there well enough, so Stephan had bitten his lips to keep from talking for most of the day.

Now, though, as they were out in the middle of the sea and heading further north, Stephan was allowed to talk as much as he wished with the team of a dozen or so large Vikings as he attempted to help row the ship. He highly doubted that he was actually helping at all, but he appreciated that the Vikings were pretending that he was.

From the looks of things his father was actually getting along fairly well with Stoic the Vast. Or, at least, it kind of reminded him of spending time with King Fergus or King Adam. The two other kings definitely would have fit well with this voyage, now that he thought about it. But then again, King Fergus's kingdom had been attacked by Vikings for years. So maybe it was a good thing he wasn't here.

Gobber turned out to be entertaining company, as did the rest of the men around him on the ship. He couldn't really tell the difference between ages, apparently as soon as they could grow facial hair, they grew as much as possible. According to Gobber (who actually had the least amount of facial hair), that was to give them extra warmth. Which, of course, made him wonder if he was going to freeze to death even though it was the middle of the summer.

But worrying thoughts were kept from his mind by the continual rowing and other activities involved in keeping the ship moving until the wind was strong enough to take over. By that point it was probably closing in on ten o'clock and Stephan practically fell asleep as soon as he'd had a dinner of cheese and bread.

The next day wasn't full of as much rowing, but staring out at the increasingly icy sea wasn't exactly energizing either. At least his father hadn't been forcing him to follow his lessons, though instead King Philip seemed content to fill him with information on the Dreamworks realm. Something Stoic readily assisted with when he could.

Most of it was like trying to follow Hercules when the demi-god was trying to explain his family tree, confusing enough to make anyone cross-eyed. Far-Far-Away was the reigning capital, kind of like the Magic Kingdom was to the Disney Empire, and its current ruler was King Artie since Queen Lillian retired to spend more time near a lordship just a few miles from her daughter's family. That'd be Shrek and Fiona and their triplets. Stephan had met them (or, well, Shrek and Fiona) before when Dreamworks and Disney had first broached the idea of peace, back when Shrek nearly became king of Far-Far-Away.

Then, of course, there were people here that were some form of parallel to people back home. Like there was another princess that people called "Sleeping Beauty," though Stephan was quick to note that she was nothing like his mother. Actually, every parallel person around here was incredibly different from the person who held the name in the Disney Empire.

There was more they tried to make him understand, like the counties that weren't "romanticized cities" like Far Far Away, or "fairy tale country" like where Shrek and Fiona lived, or as "high-tech" as EPCOT, or as "old fashioned" as Main Street USA. But somehow people lived there and considered it normal. Like there was a time between all those styles of life that defined the area, though he couldn't fathom it. Eventually the king and the Viking leader gave up, simply telling him that someday he'd see for himself. And, strangely, he hoped he would.

It was just closing in on noon again when the Viking crew started looking to the skies. Stephan looked up too, curious about what could could possibly be wrong with the partially cloudy sky. "Ah, here they are!" Gobber said, clapping a hand on the prince's shoulder. "Right on time!"

Stephan was just about to ask who was coming when his ears finally picked up a soft noise over the choppy waves, like giant wings coming closer. And then suddenly, there they were. Five dragons, some of which were larger in scale than the ship. It was an awe inspiring and intimidating sight to be sure, but what made him freeze up and almost take a step backward was the lead dragon. A black-scaled dragon bigger than the size of the Empire's largest horse.

His father's hand appeared on his shoulder, gripping him tightly as they watched the creatures circle over head for a moment. Then the black dragon swooped down to fly along side the ship, where Stoic chortled and patted the creature's head before looking up at the boy who was riding it. Stephan stared.

There was a boy who couldn't have been much older than himself riding on the dragon. He had a saddle and everything! It was hard to keep his mouth from falling open as another glance at the other dragons revealed other kids his age gleefully riding in circles.

Stoic exchanged some cheerful words, which were impossible to hear over the flapping wings and the pulse beating in Stephan's ears, then he handed several ends of thick rope off to the boy. Instantly the black dragon went upwards until the lines pulled almost taut, then he tossed four of the ropes to the other riders. And then Stephan thought he was going to die. Or at least be spectacularly sick.

With the ropes securely in the dragons' mouths, the ship was suddenly hoisted into the air, causing those on the ship to fight for balance until they were fully airborne.

Once upon a time, he hadn't had issues with heights or flying. You know, before Maleficent had kidnaped him. Twice. Or, well, really, the second time was more of a failed attempt. One which his parents didn't know about. But now was not the time to think back about that, otherwise he was sure he wouldn't make it to Berk in one piece.

King Philip must have known something was wrong because he gave Stephan's shoulder an extra squeeze before moving to make it look like he was only draping an arm around the prince's shoulders, when Stephan knew he was really being safe-guarded incase his knees gave out. Embarrassing, but comforting at the same time. And it, at least, brought color and warmth back to his face enough that he wasn't worried about being sick over the side.

"Pretty incredible, ey, boy?" Stoic asked, coming to stand near them with a look of pride beneath his beard as he watched the dragons soar.

Stephan nodded. Feeling like he'd gotten a handle on his stomach was one thing, but he was not going to test it by talking just yet.

"The leader," Philip said, to cover the silence. "He looks a bit like you."

At this Stoic laughed, but somehow made the sound filled with pride. "That's my son," he said, smiling. "Hiccup, our dragon-trainer."

Prince Stephan's eyes instantly snapped upward at the black dragon, which brought on another wave of queasiness. But he was easily able to fight it down by trying to scrutinize the rider from so far away. Someone his age had been the one to train the dragons?

~~°o°~~

Hiccup hadn't been sure what he was looking for when Toothless had gotten him low to the ship. Something grand and opulent that screamed "wealthy royals aboard" maybe. But honestly, he only barely noticed to two strangers on deck, and that was only because neither had a beard.

Then he'd had to get a higher altitude again and leave his curiosity for later. But that didn't stop him from continually glancing back as he flew. Initially he wondered if they were both sons of this King Philip guy. Hadn't Dad said that the king had two kids?

But that couldn't be right. Dad had said that only one was coming. And that meant the shorter one had to be the prince, then. So...

"Hiccup!"

He nearly fell of Toothless at Astrid's shout. "Yeah?"

"We're almost to the rocks," she pointed out, then gave him a knowing smirk. "Better keep your mind on where you're flying us!"

"Funny," he said, rolling his eyes, but faced forward to hide his twinge of embarrassment. If Astrid could see that he was preoccupied, could his dad? Or anyone else for that matter? Great.

The standing rocks around Berk weren't the hardest to navigate through, but paying attention definitely helped. And soon the dragon team set the ship down next to the island's dock to a welcoming comity of curious Vikings and younger dragons as the sun started to set.

"Okay, let go, Toothless," Hiccup said, then turned to the others. "Set the ropes down gently. Gent-Snotlout! I said gently!"

"You said put them down," his fellow flier defended after the shouts of alarm at his dragon nearly wiping out a few people by dropping the rope. "We just put them down quicker than you!"

Hiccup held in a groan as Toothless landed and he slid of the dragon's back. If anything happened to those royals, his dad would... Well. He wasn't too sure he wanted to think about it, actually.

Astrid's arm looped around his. "C'mon," she said, giving him a tug. "You can brood later."

"Wha-I-I wasn't brooding!" Hiccup objected, but Astrid rolled her eyes at him and gave him another tug before pulling her arm away.

Which, of course made his stomach twist up in knots the way it always used to (and apparently sometimes still did) around her. But he quickly caught up with her and joined the rest of their friends as the ship unloaded. It looked like Gobber had enough time to go shopping before they left the mainland.

He'd just reached the ship when his dad stepped onto the dock. "Welcome to Berk," his dad was saying. "Everyone! This is King Philip and his son, Prince Stephan, from the Disney Empire."

Sounds of welcome and awe and curiosity filled the quickly cooling air and the two visitors gave bright smiles that made the women in the group twitter and giggle—sounds that Hiccup wasn't entirely sure he'd ever heard from them before. Including Astrid.

A quick glance to his side, brought Stoic's eyes to Hiccup who quickly pulled an awkward smile of his own onto his face. Stoic gave him a smile back and clapped a hand onto his shoulder, pretty much knocking him forward to greet their guests. "And this," Stoic said, sounding strangely... Proud? Hiccup gave him a curious look. "Is my son, Hiccup- the third."

To his ultimate surprise, both of the new comers bowed to him. Not anything absurd, like kneeling on the floor type of thing, but they'd bowed their heads in a kind of respectful way none the less. Hiccup rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Uh... Hi."

"You fly very well for flying such a large creature," the taller one—the, uh, King—told him, coming closer to smile down at him. Now Hiccup could understand why he'd thought they might have been two princes, this guy looked like he couldn't be more than thirty up-close. He was clean-shaven and his hair fell in this really strange way that made it look like maybe he'd been made of marble that came to life or something. "I've never flown, myself," he continued. "But a good friend of mine rides a carpet and says that it's a challange."

"A carpet?" Ruffnut asked, snorting in disbelief along with Tuffnut.

King Philip cast them a smile. "Sounds strange, doesn't it?" he asked. "I wouldn't have believed him myself if he and his wife hadn't gone zooming off on it at the end of the day. Stephan's been on it once or twice, haven't you, Son?"

The blonde boy, looking as much like a sculpture as his father but with large violet eyes, gave the growing group of Berk's young people a small smile and nodded.

"Wow," Astrid's voice chimed in and Hiccup glanced over to find her staring too.

Hiccup had a hard time fighting the urge to frown at her, but Stoic didn't seem to notice the tension. Instead, he laughed and gave Hiccup something of a shake and hug, then addressed the surrounding crowd. "Well it sounds as though there will be plenty of stories to swap," he said. "But now, how about we share in a welcoming feast?"

**A/N:** More! ^_^ Hopefully everything still holds some form of structure I have to forewarn, you're going to get things in excerpts now, I'm definitely not delving into every detail of what the trip is like... granted you probably already guessed that...


	4. Chapter 4

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part 4)**

"Well, looks like you've been busy."

"Huh?" Hiccup looked up as Astrid pulled Stormfly up next to Toothless on the cliff top. "Oh, uh, yeah. Yeah, that's me. Uh, very busy. Keeping... uh.. Keeping watch for... for Alvin and the Outcasts."

"Uh-huh," Astrid said, looking at him slyly. "Or too busy for certain house-guests?"

"What?" Hiccup yelped. "I-I-Wha-No! I'm not-."

"I know you're not," Astrid said, tired of him stammering for an answer. "But you're trying to be."

Hiccup mouthed at her like a fish for a few minutes, trying to think up a defense, but nothing came to him. Namely because it was true. It wasn't that this Prince Stephan was nasty to be around or anything. Actually, when he thought about it, Stephan had been nothing but courteous for the entire week. If nothing else, he'd only been to eager to join in every activity.

Somehow Stephan had won over Tuffnut and Snotlout with how handy he was with a sword. Then he'd made himself a friend to Fishlegs just by actually listening when the larger boy started relaying everything he knew about dragons. Ruffnut and Astrid had applied themselves to being around whenever the prince was alone, just to get smiles from him. They'd each taken him flying, teaching the prince how to befriend a dragon exactly how Hiccup had taught them, and Stephan had apparently been flying Stormfly with Astrid merely holding on and calling directions occasionally.

It was driving Hiccup nuts. How could one guy have such a big effect on everyone? Ok, two guys. Stephan's father was causing just as much of a stir, but the King was a pro at avoiding affections that he didn't want. Prince Stephan, not so much.

"He's here for another week, you know," Astrid said after several moments in her own thoughts.

"I know," Hiccup acknowledged with a nod. Currently it was the bright point at the end of the tunnel for him.

"Well, you could at least try getting to know him," Astrid said, folding her arms. "He is staying at your house, after all."

"Yeah, I know."

Giving him a narrowed look that must have been a reminder that she could (and probably would) beat him up, Astrid nudged Stormfly forward into a dive over the cliff side. Kinda out of instinctive reaction, Hiccup leaned forward in the saddle to make sure she was able to pull out of the dive. Which she did, of course. She was actually one of the best riders in their group.

"You're sitting with us at dinner," she informed him and flew away before he could say otherwise.

~~°o°~~

Stephan wasn't sure what he should be doing. He'd never visited with Vikings before, even in the EPCOT. Visiting with Vikings from outside the Disney Empire was probably even more different. But he staggered along with customs that he'd been taught ever since he was little, which at least made no one irritated with him. Except for, maybe, Hiccup. The older ladies on the island loved his father, fluttering their eyes at him and baking special goodies for dinner. But they also doted on Stephan, all cooing and such when he'd lend a hand with something typically considered mundane. The girls were more his following, though, and more often than not he was in the company of Astrid or Ruffnut or both.

Little girls were the funniest, though. They'd come up with tiny handfuls of wildflowers and homemade... things, which they'd bashfully hold out to him and then hurry off in a flutter of giggles when he thanked them. Which at least assured him that they weren't to different from the little girls he had to deal with back home.

The men were similar too, after a while. Every morning, since it was his routine, Stephan found himself waking up with the dawn and being the only one besides his father who was actually conscious. So, just like at home, King Philip would draw him outside and a little ways away from the village to practice swordplay. It didn't take long for the men of the island to catch on to this and decide that they'd like to watch or even participate. By the end of their first week, Stephan and his father were lengthening their practices to include local pairs in this strange looking arena that Tuffnut claimed used to be for battling dragons.

Prince Stephan believed it, though he much preferred viewing the dragons as some form of extra-large pet instead of a beast to fight. On that front had done fairly well with the dragons so far. One of the plusses of so much fawning, he guessed, was that merely saying that he'd never been on a dragon had gotten him lessons in just about everything dragon related-from flying to feeding to showing affection-until he was probably the most dragon-educated person that would ever return to the Disney Empire.

The only dragon he hadn't spent much time with was the one he was probably the most wary of-Toothless. Though, not for lack of trying. Every morning he and the Nightfury would share a few moments, which were simply spent with both analyzing each other, before King Philip emerged from the house to lead the way to the arena.

By the time they'd get back for a late-ish breakfast, Hiccup would be gone for the day and Toothless along with him.

"It's a Hiccup-thing," Astrid had explained one breakfast when he'd accidentally mentioned it. She cast a calculating sour look towards the hall door, then she gave him a smile. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him."

Stephan gave her an awkward nod of thanks, feeling ill at ease with Hiccup already. Had he done something wrong without realizing it?

That night at dinner, after a day spent racing with his new friends, Stephan was amazed to see Hiccup walking towards them through the hall. Not only that, but he sat with them too. Right across from Stephan, actually. Though, really, the rest of the teens hardly seemed to notice as they went on telling their stories of battle scars.

Prince Stephan glanced over at Astrid. What exactly had she said to him?

The blonde merely smiled and went back to contradicting everything Snotlout said.

"Uh, hi," Hiccup said, sounding a little sheepish and uncomfortable.

"Hello," Stephan returned, giving an uncertain smile.

"Do you, uh, mind if I sit here?" Hiccup asked.

"No, not by any means," Stephan answered, relieved. "Please do."

Hiccup returned the uncertain smile with his own that matched, then the two boys were quickly drawn into their friends' conversations.

~~°o°~~

A while later, while sharing stories about how Hiccup and his friends used to train in the arena, Stoic and King Philip arrived as they laughed about Fishlegs against the double headed dragon. But a distinct feeling of dread went through Stephan as his dad put a hand on his shoulder.

"It sounds as though you're all having a wonderful time," Philip said with a smile.

"We are," Astrid agreed for the table. Hiccup and Stephan nodded in agreement.

"That's wonderful to hear," Philip said. "But... we might need to leave earlier than we'd originally planned."

Stephan looked up at him with large, disappointed eyes. "What? Why?"

Philip gave his son an apologetic smile and cuffed the back of his head affectionately. "Two reasons," he said. "Your mother and sister think they might not need to do as much in Paris as they originally thought-." He smirked as Stephan rolled his eyes. "And two, your Aunt Odette's gone missing."

"Again?" Stephan asked, looking moderately concerned but not surprised. A reaction that made the other teens fight their amused reactions.

"It seems that way," Philip said sympathetically. "I've told Derek that we'll be on our way in the morning."

Stephan deflated, nodding half-heartedly at the plan. The sentiment was echoed in the faces and groans of the five or six other young teens at the table.

Stoic placed a hand on Stephan's other shoulder, then looked at Philip thoughtfully. "Would this be the family of Queen Uberta?"

Philip nodded and looked at the viking leader curiously. "You know them?"

"I know of them," Stoic corrected. "They're a day or so's travel over the boarder in Bluthia. Some of their trade routes go to the mainland with jams and such. But my point is-why don't you let the boy stay? We'll watch out for him-it's not like he can get off the island without someone knowing-and we'll fly him over to that lake castle of their's before your wife knows."

Stephan looked up at his father hopefully and eventually the king smiled and nodded. "Alright," Philip said, ruffling his son's hair. "It sounds like a plan."

"Yes!" Stephan and his new friends cheered.

"But I better hear that you were on good behavior, Stephan," Philip cautioned good-heartedly.

Stephan nodded sternly, then quickly went back to talking with the island teens.

Philip smiled and shook his head. At least the boy was fitting in. If it weren't for the fact that Stephan was the only heir to their corner of the Empire, Philip would have been tempted to let him live a life like the one these vikings had. After all, it wasn't as though Stephan was lacking in female attention here (that blonde one wearing a spiky helmet kept making eyes at the young prince), but sadly duty had to come first.

~~°o°~~

Hiccup honestly found it a little strange the next morning, after King Philip left. He and the team had pulled the ship half way across the sea, with Stephan riding along with Astrid on Stormfly. The prince, normally quiet anyway, was practically mute for the hours it took to fly out and back. Then he quickly disappeared to the cliff top overlooking the direction of the mainland.

Which Hiccup only knew because he found the prince there when it was close to dinner time. It felt like he was interrupting when he landed Toothless a few yards away. Especially when Stephan barely glanced back at him when he started coming closer.

"So, uh," Hiccup said slowly. "So... you—you flew pretty well today."

The prince glanced up again momentarily before he looked back at the sea. "Thanks."

Hiccup nodded, then rubbed the back of his head. "Soo... I was thinking... Tomorrow... maybe I'll show you how to fly on Toothless."

Stephan stared at him. "Really?"

"Yeah," Hiccup said, trying not to regret his decision. But if he ever wanted Astrid to stop glaring at him, this had to happen. "You can use my old saddle-from back when I had both feet."

The prince gave an awkward little laugh, but nodded. Hiccup gave another slightly lopsided smile. Maybe this would be an okay thing.

~~°o°~~

After breakfast the next day, Stephan followed the young Viking towards the smithy. It didn't take too long to find the old saddle, buried beneath a dozen of Hiccup's other projects. Then he helped lug it back up the hill to where Toothless was playing behind his family house.

"So, uh, I just need to remember how this went on," Hiccup said, setting the old saddle on the ground. Whether or not it was out of excitement, Toothless moved his tail, lightly hitting Hiccup in the face. "Wha-Toothless! Hold still, buddy."

He turned to glance at the dragon's face, expecting to find the large reptilian creature watching him curiously as he always did, but was surprised to find his dragon curiously sniffing towards Prince Stephan. And the prince was a good three or four feet away, just letting the dragon come to him instead of advancing.

Fighting the urge to mutter in his dislike of this idea-or letting Stephan near Toothless at all-Hiccup quickly worked at getting the saddle's buckles figured out. He was working on the last buckle when Toothless jerked to attention, then let out a low growl.

Wondering what their royal guest had done, Hiccup looked up with a frown. But Stephan was still rooted to his spot, the only difference being that one of his hands was extended forward, and Toothless was looking around the sky anxiously.

Hiccup gave up on the buckle and got to his feet. "What is it, Bud?"

Toothless gave a short rumble of an answer and continued to search the sky until his ears twitched toward the south. Hiccup and Stephan followed the dragon's gaze too. And Hiccup's jaw dropped.

A large dark speck was growing steadily closer and giving off a strange, shrill metallic noise as well as the sound of really large wings. Toothless balked and let out a cry.

"Hiccup!" Astrid's voice reached them only moments before she did, sliding off Stormfly's back and landing with an agile thud. She looked back over her shoulder at the growing speck. "Its some kind of air ship," she reported. "It looks like a large ball or something!"

"A dirigible?" Stephan wondered, earning him confused glances.

"Do you think its more visitors?" Astrid asked, turning to Hiccup again.

Hiccup shook his head. "Dad didn't say we were expecting anyone while the Disney royals were here."

"What should we do?"

Suddenly back in his on-again-off-again title of "Defense Leader," Hiccup squinted at the encroaching aircraft as he tried to form a plan. There were, honestly, very few who came to Berk on peaceful terms. So it wasn't hard to guess that this was a "non-friendly", the fact that they were coming by air, though, that was worrisome.

"Get everyone to their dragons," he said finally. "I'll go find Dad."

"And Stephan?" Astrid asked pointedly, glancing at the taller boy beside them. Stephan looked to Hiccup.

"He's with me," Hiccup said after a moment or two. If nothing else, at least this way he could keep the prince from going all "valiant" and trying to help them fight (if that was indeed the case). That, and he didn't really have time to get the correct saddle back on anyway.

Which meant Stephan was about to have his first time flying with Toothless as they raced off to find the hunters.

Astrid nodded, either realizing that it was futile to argue or just too time consuming to press further, and mounted Stormfly again. "We'll find out what they're up to."

Hiccup nodded in thanks, Astrid really was the best help he had for these things. Another thing he loved about her. She nodded back and Stormfly took off, swooping down towards the rest of the village.

"C'mon," Hiccup said, moving towards Toothless again. "You're going to have to steer."

"What?" Stephan halted mid-step, looking at Hiccup with wide eyes.

"I don't have time to get the other saddle back on," he said firmly. "Its easy enough, I'll tell you what to do."

The flicker of fear that Hiccup was surprised to see in the prince's eyes quickly turned into determination as Stephan nodded and stepped forward. After a few short instructions and reassuring Toothless, Hiccup had Stephan urge the dragon into take-off.

One thing he could say, when they were finally airborne and heading towards the forests, teaching a new driver on Toothless was probably the most difficult thing he'd ever done. And Hiccup silently vowed never to do it again.

Luckily the prince was a fast learner and after a few near crashes, Stephan remained a little shaky but at least he was able to steer.

"Where are they?" Stephan asked over the wind.

"I dunno," Hiccup answered. It was beginning to feel like he could search the entire forest and never find his dad. "They should be just pas the eastern-Woah!"

Giving a roar of alarm, Toothless lurched and nearly threw his riders, making both boys cry out.

"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted. "What-."

Hiccup gasped as some sort of laser narrowly missed them.

"Stephan! Steer into a dive," he shouted. "Tilt your foot forward!"

Prince Stephan did as he was told and Toothless raced towards the ground. Another round of fire sprayed through the air, narrowly missing them. Hiccup managed to guide Stephan through each of the maneuvers, but it still wasn't the same as being the one steering.

He'd nearly gotten them back to the village when one of the lasers came too close to Hiccup for comfort. The one after it, though, rocked them like an explosion and soon they were careening towards the ocean.

"Toothless! Pull!" Hiccup shouted.

A brief glance came from the dragon, but then Toothless turned in the air and fired one of his sonic blasts at the airship. It hit the side and created a billowing firey cloud that singed a bit of Hiccup's hair, but it didn't stop their pursuers.

Giving up on the idea of fighting while falling a split second later, Toothless moved to get beneath the two boys. But before he could catch them, Hiccup felt as though he'd been slammed into a wall, with Stephan right alongside him. He groaned in pain, wondering if they'd managed to fall onto a boat or something, but the strange greenish light around them assured him that this wasn't land. Actually, through the green glow he could see the ocean still a good ten feet away, where Toothless was now crying up at him as he swam in circles.

Then the ocean started to fall even further away. Hiccup's stomach lurched. "Toothless," he shouted. "Toothless, go find Astrid! Find Dad!"

One final roar cut through the air, but then Hiccup and Stephan were being pulled away even faster until they were sucked inside the airship's open door. The green glow faded and dropped them onto the metal floor, where the two boys scrambled to sit up.

"Welcome aboard!" a thick accent greeted them.

Hiccup's mouth fell open in disbelief. Standing in front of him was that nutcase from the mainland of Dreamworks-Mr Grue. Along with his daughters, the blonde one and the little one who looked like a scallion. And a good dozen of these weird little yellow creatures in over-alls.

"And say good-bye to Berk," Grue said.

**A/N:** Enter the Grue family! :D Oh, c'mon, you knew I'd pull them in again lol What can I say? Mashing things together is a favorite pastime of mine ^_^


	5. Chapter 5

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part5)**

"Urgh. I should have been steering," Hiccup grunted in irritation. "Should have just switched the saddle and left you in the village."

"You could have," Stephan agreed, though not exactly sounding as though he agreed that it would have been better. "I'd thought you would have... Why the change of mind?"

Hiccup glanced at him. It was hours later, maybe event the next day by this point, and the two boys hadn't made much of any progress in escaping. Actually, they'd been transferred from the airship to some really insanely high-tech underground lair of sorts, and then to a more basic looking room that had next to nothing in it. Which is where they were sitting now, with thick ropes coiled around them so their arms were pinned close to their chests.

Stephan had taken to sitting calmly on the ground, doing nothing so far as Hiccup could tell. Hiccup, on the other hand, had tried ramming himself into the door (not a good idea), kicking the door (even worse idea), and trying to get to the small window that was just above his head. Nothing worked.

He knew what Stephan was referring to, though. "I kinda had to," he admitted. "I can't fly without the adjusted foothold." He'd hoped that would be enough, but Stephan's expression was impassive. Hiccup sighed. "Because Astrid made me."

"She's persuasive," Stephan consented with a nod. "But why'd she have to?"

_Wow, were all Disney people so forward with their questions?_ Hiccup wondered. Which wasn't helped by his current irritation. What was he supposed to say? Because he'd have preferred that Stephan had left with King Philip yesterday? Because his friends had only been interested in the visiting prince ever since the kid stepped off the boat? Because he'd been able to hear how impressed his father was when Philip told stories about Stephan while the boys were supposed to be asleep? Because-.

Hiccup's thoughts stopped. His attention was drawn by movement, Stephan was fighting against his ropes for the first time since they'd been put on him. There was a strong emotion on the blonde's face, something like a combination of determination and distraction... and hurt?

None of that had been his fault, Hiccup realized and took a step away from the wall. Everything he'd been listing, the prince couldn't have had any control over it.

Eventually, with a sigh, Hiccup found himself sitting next to the foreigner. "Because I didn't want to. Because of how everything was for you. How everyone was just... fawning all over you. I just felt... it felt like everyone thought you were better than me," Hiccup finally admitted, hanging his head. "And... I thought so too."

~~°o°~~

Stephan stopped squirming against the rope to stare at the shorter boy. Better than him? Stephan had never been considered better than anyone in his entire life. Which he supposed must have been considered weird, now that he thought about it, seeing as he was a prince and the heir to his parents' corner of the Empire. But he'd spent most of his life in the shadow of his soon to be brother-in-law. Dorian was faster. Dorian was smarter. Dorian was stronger. More charismatic, more active, more important. Better.

To be considered better than Hiccup made no sense.

"I'm not better than you," Stephan said. "You tame and train dragons. You're quick on your feet—ev–even though you, uh, you don't... have to be. Y–You know how to work in a smithy. People listen to you. When you give directions or commands or advice. I couldn't even _try_ to be better than you."

"But—you're a prince," Hiccup pointed out after a moment of trying to find a response, sounding a little more defensive than he'd meant to.

"So? Technically you are too," Stephan shot back just as quickly.

Hiccup didn't have a response for that. Technically it was true. "Sorry."

Stephan managed to shrugged. "Its not like its your fault," he said. "I was trying to do everything to be on everyone's good side."

"Yeah, well, you definitely came close," Hiccup said.

"Except with you," Stephan said.

"Yeah," Hiccup said again, feeling sheepish, but now that they'd opened the can of worms..."That might have had something to do with Toothless."

"Toothless?" Stephan repeated.

"You were always watching him," Hiccup said, feeling a little stupid now that he was actually saying it aloud. "And... I don't know... I didn't want him to think you were better than me too."

The prince was quiet for a few moments as he mulled over Hiccup's answer. Then slowly he forced another question. "Did your father tell you what was in the letter from my father?"

"No."

Stephan hummed in understanding, then sighed. Not exactly thrilled about what he now had to say. "I wanted to get used to Toothless because he was the one I was most afraid of."

Hiccup blinked. "I didn't think you were afraid of anything."

The prince laughed. "Yeah? Well, good," he said. "That's what I was aiming for. In theory only a handful of people would have seen that I was scared."

"Okay," Hiccup said slowly. "But _why_ were you scared?"

Prince Stephan hesitated, staring at the tied ends of his rope. "When I was a kid," he said slowly, wondering if revealing a chink in his armor was any form of a good idea. "My family was attacked and my sister and I were kidnapped by a witch who could turn herself into a dragon... A large black dragon."

It clicked and Hiccup stared at the blonde boy in shock. "So when you saw Toothless...?"'

"I knew I had to get over my fear," Stephan said, nodding. "And he was the best chance I had to do so."

"How's that working for you?" Hiccup asked.

Stephan gave him a lopsided smile. "I've been better."

"Sorry."

"I've also had worse," he said comfortingly with a shrug. Then he looked at the door and frowned. "I met those girls back when we were cutting through the Dreamworks mainland. Actually, no, I saw them on the dock when we were sailing away."

Hiccup snorted a laugh, strangely feeling some form of comradery now that the younger boy had shared something that felt like a bit of a secret. "Yeah, that's not too surprising," he said. "I kinda expected them back sooner. I met them when they were helping their dad try to steel a dragon."

"Seriously?" Stephan asked, raising an eyebrow. "Wow."

"Yeah, I think they're some collective villain family or something," Hiccup said.

"I've heard of hero families," Stephan said. "There's a family that calls themselves the Incredibles over in Hollywood, they have super powers and fight crimes and stuff. I guess there was bound to be villain families too."

"Well, if we have time after we get out of this," Hiccup said with a smirk. "Toothless, Astrid, and I'll show you some of the better things we have in Dreamworks."

Stephan returned the smirk with one of his own. "Thanks, Hiccup."

"Anytime, Prince Stephan."

"Prince?!"

The boys jumped in alarm and scrambled away from the door as it swung open. The light from the hall was near blinding and the two squinted against it to see the two daughters of their captor gaping at them. Or, well, the younger one the ponytail that stood practically on end was gaping at them in delight. Her sister in pink, however, was getting an expression that both boys had experience with. An expression that meant an idea, and probably one hazardous to their health, was forming beneath that pink knit cap.

"C'mon, Agnes," the pink clad girl said, tugging her sister out of the room as a door closed somewhere behind them. "We gotta tell Dad."

Instantly the lighting dropped to the dim level that the prince and the Viking had come to know as normal, even though now it felt even darker. And that sent a shiver down Stephan's spine.

Hiccup, though, summed it up perfectly. "Uh-oh."

~~°o°~~

"Its not your fault," Stephan said again around what they guessed was dinner time. "I'm sure they'd have figured out who I was eventually."

"Yeah, but I didn't help," Hiccup said, still mentally kicking himself for the slipup. "Now we have to get you out of here before they think up something crazy to do with you."

It looked just as impossible as before. No, actually it looked even more impossible. If Hiccup was ready to toss in the towel before, now he was just hoping that whatever it was they were being held for wasn't going to be like facing death.

"These are bows," Stephan said suddenly.

"What?" Hiccup moved himself around to get a better look at the other boy.

"The ropes. They're tied in bows," Stephan reiterated. "It's not a knot!"

Hiccup looked down at where the ropes were tied off near his shoulder. The prince was right, they'd tied them up like Snoggletog packages!

"Well," he said, looking up to see the prince starting to smile. "That makes things easier."

Stephan nodded and somehow got to his feet. "Here," he said, turning his back so that his hands were closer to Hiccup. "I'll get your's then you can work on mine."

"Sure, yeah," he said, trying his best to press the bow into his friend's hands.

If they were lucky, they'd be able to climb out that window and maybe even get across the yard (if there was one) before the girls or their dad noticed. Then, Hiccup promised silently, he'd find a way to make up for the first week of Stephan's visit being so rocky. After all, if he'd been the one visiting the Disney Empire to get over a fear, Hiccup was sure he'd prefer having a friend who knew the problem there to help.

"Got it," Stephan said after a few moments of tugging.

"Perfect," Hiccup said quietly as he brushed the loosened cords off. Then he turned to help the prince. "Now you."

But Stephan was listening intently and shook his head. "They're coming back,"he whispered. "See if you can get help. Get back to Berk."

"I can't leave you," Hiccup objected. "My Dad would kill me!"

"You're gonna have to chance it," Stephan said with an ironic smile and shrug, then nudged him with his shoulder. "If you're fast enough, maybe neither of our dads will have to worry."

Hiccup wasn't convinced, but the plan (barely) made more sense than letting these nut-cases catch him again and redo the bindings. So he nodded and Stephan managed to help boost him up to the window. Then, with one more glance at his friend, Hiccup slipped out the window and into the night.

~~°o°~~

Stephan's pulse was throbbing in his ears as their captors' noises drew closer. What would happen if they realized that Hiccup had escaped? He was a prince, but how long would that title keep him safe? Or would it at all? He had absolutely no knowledge on Dreamworks realm villains-their morals, their intelligence, their ruthlessness-he knew nothing that could help him escape on his own and he'd sent the only other person he knew from this realm away to get help.

"Hurry, Hiccup," he quietly wished. Maybe he should have gone to Bluthia with Father.

_**A/N**_: _Well that was quick, ey? Too bad it won't be as quick for Stephan... yeah, sorry, I hope it all makes sense, at the moment my brain is swimming with letters._


	6. Chapter 6

Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part 6)

"But look! 'E's a prince!" the man said.

Stephan looked upward, still couldn't see the crown they'd placed on his head, but from the look on the girl's face he knew it was ridiculous.

"Dad! That's not how you get me a date," she shouted, sounding as exasperated as Stephan felt. "You can't just go kidnapping princes-let alone princes from the Disney Empire!"

"We were just trying to help," the pink-clad girl said. "Yeesh."

"You don't want to dance with a prince?" the smallest girl asked, her large brown eyes going even wider as they stared up at the bespectacled teen.

The eldest girl sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Not the point, Agnes. You don't _kidnap_ people. For anything! Dances or otherwise!" She rounded on their father. "And _you're_ supposed to be staying good!"

Stephan stared at the participants in the strange scene before him. Maybe three or four hours after Hiccup had managed to escape, and a mad search had pursued to no avail, Stephan had been moved to another room and tied up more properly. It must have been the next day by time the third sister got home, Stephan had long since lost the ability to gauge what time it was, but they'd waited several hours or even another day before they'd showed him to her.

And, suffice it to say, she hadn't been pleased.

To Stephan's high entertainment, though, she seemed to be the one who wore the pants around here. And after a long bout of scolding, the eldest daughter of the Grue family had sent her father and sisters off to different corners of the house with their heads hanging in shame. Then she turned towards Stephan and he finally got a good look at her.

She was fairly short, maybe as tall as his shoulder or a little less, with square glasses on a little lump of a nose. Her hair was a dark brown and she had it pulled back in a low ponytail, though a few strands hung down by her ears. She had a strange fashion sense, not than anyone's clothes here made much sense to Stephan, wearing a plaid-pleated skirt and a blazer jacket. To an extent she looked a little like the girls at one of the private academies in Future World of EPCOT, but she was wearing a black t-shirt with some form of... cat or something on it over her button-down shirt. Something about her just screamed "adult attitude," though that might have been because of the determined expression she wore.

"Sorry for my dad and sisters," she said as she picked at the ropes. "They're a little... eccentric."

Stephen let out a soft chuckle to assure her that he understood, after all it wasn't her fault that her relations were a tad crazy. She gave him an appreciative glance and finally worked the knot free.

Then she stepped back and let him work some feeling back into his fingers.

"Sorry," she said again.

Stephan shook his head, easily tired of that word. "What's your name?"

"Oh, uh, Margo," she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Margo Grue."

"My name's Stephan," he said with a nod, not really sure that saying meeting her was a pleasure would be entirely accurate.

The girl seemed to think the same thing, leaving the two to stand in a semi-awkward silence for a moment or two. Then she cleared her throat. "Well, uh, I guess we should get you on your way," she said, moving toward the door. "It's about a day or two of busses to get to the port."

"Great," he said, realizing that Hiccup might have only just reached Berk by this point. Sighing slightly, he followed her out of the room.

~~°o°~~

Margo, it turned out, was fairly normal, rather nice, and incredibly grown up for being thirteen, but that was really something of a relief. He hadn't thought so before, but being able to act his age all this time had been exhausting since he was used to being treated (and acting) like an adult. On his way out, she made him a sandwich to take with him on the trip and then walked with him to the street's corner stop and gave him money for bus fare.

"I hope it's enough," she said. "I babysit around the neighborhood, but it doesn't bring in much."

"Thank you," Stephan said, casting her a smile. "I'll send something to repay you when I get home."

She blushed a deep pink. "Oh you don't have to," she said quickly. "After all, you're not pressing charges."

He chuckled and looked at her appraisingly. "Well if one good thing has come from this," he said off-handedly. "I'm glad you were the one I was kidnapped for-and not someone obsessed with my title."

Margo's blush deepened at the odd compliment, but she held her head high as she smiled. "And despite the reasons we met," she said. "I'm glad we met too."

Stephan was just about to say good bye, in hopes that (despite how nice she was) that he'd never really have to be at the Grue house again, when a strange and loud noise came from overhead. The teens looked up and Stephan's jaw dropped at the strange flying machine that he was sure shouldn't be staying aloft.

As if to prove it was unstable, the ship-like structure quickly lowered itself towards them, causing gusts of wind do bowl them over. Part of instinct, he moved to make sure Margo was okay, but the girl was staring up at the ship in horror.

"Vector!" she gasped, drawing the prince's attention to an open bay in the contraption above them where a really rather unfit person, dressed in a garishly bright orange track suit, had a form of gun aimed at them.

The man, Vector, let out a highly annoying laugh. "Yes! It is I! Vector! Most fearsome villain in all the world!"

Stephan couldn't help raising an eyebrow. Really? He was pretty sure this guy was one of the least fearsome he'd ever seen. Most ridiculous, though, that title could fit.

"You're supposed to be on the moon!" Margo shouted, frowning.

"Times change, little Grue," Vector responded. "Look at my new catcher-launcher!"

Without another word, and before either teen could escape, he fired the gun.

~~°o°~~

With a juice box in hand and pink knit cap on her head, Edith skipped from the kitchen and down the hall. No, Margo hadn't exactly been pleased with the idea of kidnapping people, but honestly it had been alot of fun. Sometimes her sister could be such a downer.

"Oh well," she sighed as she chewed on the straw of her juice. "Just have to find another way to get a dragon."

With an added hop, she landed behind the front door and yanked the large structure open to hop down the front stairs. But before she could even start hopping again, noise from the corner caught her attention and what she saw made her drop the juice. Straw still in her teeth, Edith stared as her sister and the prince were trapped in a net and hauled into the ship of none other than-.

"Vector!" Edith yelped, making the straw fall next to its box before she turned and pushed the door. "DAD! Dad, Vector's got Margo!"

"What?!" Grue's voice bellowed from deep within the house and in surprising time Grue (with Agnes and minions in tow) came surging out the door with a blaster in hand.

Vector steered his strange airship closer to the Grue house, laughing his deranged maniacal laugh until he was close enough to see Grue's face. Then he shouted, "Si-o-nara, Losers!"

"Margo!" Edith shouted. But despite Grue's aim, the airship continued to speed away from them and quickly disappeared from sight.

A moment passed with just the gentle breeze and a few tweeting birds, then Agnes gasped and looked around. "Did he take the prince too?"

"Uh, yeah," Edith responded after looking up at Grue.

"Oh good," Agnes sighed happily, making both Grue and Edith look at her in confusion. She blinked at them, but when they clearly weren't understanding, she explained, "Princes save girls from the bad guy. So he will save Margo."

Edith clapped the palm of her hand to her head and Grue pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head.

_**A/N:**__ Yeeeeaaah, poor kid can't catch a break. Get ready for a new element!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part 7)**

"I'm beginning to see why Disney royals aren't allowed into Dreamworks regularly," Stephan said with a sigh.

"Really?" Margo asked. "Why's that?"

"Well so far, I've fallen into a force field from fifty feet, burned my arm," he counted off. "Been kidnapped by a family and held ransom for the price of a dragon, then decided that I was going to be kept as a date, and got freed only to now be hanging over a shark pool."

"Oh... Yeah, I can see your point."

It'd be hard not to, at least for the last one since she was hanging there right along with him. Both were hanging from fixtures that looked more like they used to be ceiling lights with the ropes around their wrists tied to where the light bulbs used to go. You didn't have to be a genius to know that these weren't going to hold for long. Stephan was surprised they'd held for an hour already.

"When'd you burn your arm?" she asked cautiously, as though afraid the answer might be while with her family.

Stephan glanced at his right forearm as he thought about it. It had been an interesting problem to keep secret when they'd been taken captive, but luckily he'd only had to roll down his sleeves while they'd been pulled into the Grue family airship to at least hide it. It still stung, and hurt worse than anything he could remember while he'd been tied, but he'd managed to ignore it. For the most part. Now the pain was flaring again.

"Back on Berk," he said. "Toothless—the dragon I was on—tried to fire at your father's airship. I got clipped by the shot."

"Oh...Well," Margo continued after a moment. "Not all of Dreamworks is like this. I hear Far Far Away's really nice."

"Wouldn't know," Stephan breathed, trying to work the rope around his wrists before he lost all feeling in his hands. "I've never been."

"Me either," Margo said, staring down at the shark. "What's Disney like?"

Stephan paused, partially to think on an answer and partially in fear that too much movement would send him to a watery battle. "Its nice," he said finally. "Castles all over the place. Lots of scenery. Talking animals."

"Sounds nice," Margo agreed.

"Yeah, well, I don't get to see much of the empire either," he said, focusing on how to get down again. "I'm usually in classes or following duties or in training."

"Training?" Margo repeated.

"King courses," he said with a grunt as he started swinging his legs. "Military endurance, strategy, negotiation, that sort of thing."

"Oh." She watched him swinging curiously and was about to ask what he was doing when he launched himself into a flip that swung him to sit right atop the tiny base. Her jaw dropped as he quickly was able to work himself loose. Then he twisted himself around so it looked more like he was sitting on a swing and pulled her closer to start working on her ropes.

"What are you? A part-time acrobat?" she asked as one wrist came loose and she quickly took hold of him.

The prince chuckled. "No," he said and grunted as freeing her other wrist made him take on her full weight. "That'd be Prince Frederick's title. Other side of the EPCOT."

"Never heard of him," Margo breathed, not really sure how this position was any better than hanging from rope.

"Yeah, well I doubt you'd heard of me either," he said with a smile as he looked at the room below them.

She smiled in agreement. "Now what?"

"Well," he said slowly, his eyes finding the large orange sofa on a lower landing. "This isn't usually my line, but-do you trust me?"

"You've gotten me this far," Margo said, though there was an anxiety building in her eyes.

His eyes locked on hers. "Okay," he said gently. "I'm going to let you go."

"What?!"

"There's a couch below us to the right a little bit," he explained. "I'm going to get you to that couch."

Falling was not her favorite thing. Actually, heights weren't either anymore and it had been taking every nerve she had to keep from panicking when she found herself hanging over Vector's pet shark. That made it twice that Vector had supplied her with phobias. And what the prince was asking her to do wasn't helping.

"You can do it," Stephan assured her, his large violet eyes preaching their own world of calm. "I promise-nothing more than bruises."

"Great," she squeaked.

"Or we can see how long this light takes to break," he offered. "Either way, we won't be up here much longer."

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Margo shakily nodded. "Okay."

Stephan gave her an encouraging smile, then began to swing them on the lamp. Once. Twice... On the third swing, he let her go and Margo did her best not to scream in the seconds that might as well have been hours it took to land on the on the couch with a bounce and roll that sent her into the armrest.

High up above her, still swinging with the force, Stephan smiled down at her, clearly pleased that she did so well. Margo smiled back, but felt like she was never going to stop shaking. Moments later with a loud thud or two, Prince Stephan rolled off the couch and onto the floor near her feet.

A moment passed of him just blinking at the ceiling over head, then the prince let out a breath and a soft groan. "Ow."

"You okay?" Margo asked, looking down at him.

Silently he nodded, working on getting air back into his lungs. It was a feeling he was very well acquainted with, especially when he practiced against Dorian. He was actually more surprised that he'd yet to break a rib.

"So, now what?" the girl asked as Stephan pushed himself up so he was sitting.

He glanced around the room. Of all the places he'd ever been, this was probably the strangest. Everything was stark white, except the couch and a few other things which were bright orange. There were stairs that wrapped half the room, though there wasn't a rail that he could see, and halls that somehow hid with the curvature of the room.

"Find a way out," he said with a shrug. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this place, would you?"

To his relief, though partial surprise, Margo gave him a lopsided smile. "Actually," she said slowly. "I've been here before. I might be able to get us out."

~~°o°~~

If he'd thought the living room had been strange, the rest of the house took the cake. Not even the places around Future World were this oddly designed. And considering the Robinsons lived in Future World, that was saying something.

Even Margo seemed to find the house obscure as she led him this way and that. Every now and then, they'd hear something—either that Vector guy singing about himself or something like footsteps—that made them jump into a surprising doorway or hall. Stephan was almost sure they were lost when Margo gave a little gasp and spun to look up at him with a grin.

"I remember this part!" she whispered.

He smirked. "Well, lead on."

She bounced a little as she turned back in the direction she wanted to go, which nearly made Stephan laugh. It was almost like she wanted to be out of here faster than he did.

"Just one more turn," Margo mumbled as they raced along. "And—."

"Hey! How did you kids get out?!"

It felt like Stephan could have jumped out of his skin as both he and Margo spun to see Vector, hideous jumpsuit and all, staring at them from back down the hall.

"Run, Margo!" Stephan shouted, giving her a gentle shove. "Run!"

Margo let out a shriek and took off with Stephan quick on her heels.

"Oh no you don't!" Vector shouted after them. Something fired and then splattered against the wall as the two teens ducked around the next corner.

"Its that door!" Margo told Stephan over her shoulder.

He nodded, of course a bright orange door would be the way out. What he wasn't ready for, was a courtyard. But they barely had a second to register how far away the yard's gate was before something whizzed past their heads.

Grabbing hold of her hand, Stephan rushed down the path. They'd almost made it when rapid clicking sounds came from the walls around them. Margo's grip pulled him to a halt and they stared up in shock.

Dozens or maybe hundreds of laser guns lined the tops of the walls, and all of them were aimed at Stephan and Margo.

"Bad day for you, mini Grue," Vector chided, leaning against his doorframe as he twirled some kind of remote in his hands. "Now you can try to get past my defenses, but... I wouldn't recommend it."

Stephan glared at him, tempted to test him on that. Vector merely smirked at him from behind his thick framed glasses.

~~°o°~~

Hiccup's arms felt like they were going to fall off.

Getting away from the psychos' house had been a trick in itself, and then he was pretty sure he'd spent the whole night wandering in circles. It was close to dawn when he'd actually made it to the nearest city, which he still didn't know the name of. But at least he'd been able to find a train that got him within half a day's walk to the port.

Then it had just been the trick of getting a kid to lend him this dinky little boat. Not his first choice, by any means, but it was the only thing he could find and for a price he could afford (his whalebone carving knife). The only thing he hadn't fully counted on was how hard it would be to row by himself across the ocean.

He'd rowed with his friends a few times before, like the time they had to help Gobber find the Bone-collector dragon, so he hadn't been entirely hopeless. In fact, he'd managed to get a third of the way there before dawn on his third day of escaping. But by that point he was fighting exhaustion, having only gotten some sleep on the train and a nap on some fishing nets at port while he'd been waiting for anyone to show up.

"Just... just a little longer," he promised himself, fighting (unsuccessfully) the need to yawn. "Then I'll... I'll be in range of... Stormfly!"

The last word had become a shout as an echoing roar came from overhead. He'd never been happier to hear a dragon, or well a dragon that wasn't Toothless.

"Oh thank Odin," he sighed, dropping backwards in the boat with a groan. He sighed and flexed his hands as he heard the flapping wings draw closer. His friends were amazing, this was definitely further out than they'd ever patrolled on other nights. Which instantly made him feel a little guilty, and apprehensive.

That meant Astrid had been worried.

Which could land him a black eye. Or a broken rib. Or both.

Suddenly he was fully awake and not entirely sure if he was going to be functioning enough to keep his promise to go back for Stephan.

"Hiccup!"

It was definitely Stormfly over head, a long with a fairly flustered looking Astrid.

"Down here!" he shouted and pushed back up onto the boat's seat. "Astrid!"

Waving his hands above his head, it wasn't long before scaly claws wrapped around his wrists and hoisted him into the air.

The wind on his face and ruffling his hair was such a welcome feeling, he started wondering how long they'd actually been captive if he missed flying this much. But he didn't have time to dwell on it when they suddenly landed on a Viking ship.

"Hey! You found him!" Snotlout cheered in greeting. "Astrid, I had nothing but faith in you!"

"Stuff it, Snotlout," Astrid snapped, slipping off her dragon to stride towards Hiccup with a dangerous fire in her eyes. "Hiccup! What happened?!"

Instinctively, Hiccup backed up a step—which only made him bump into another dragon. "Uh," he said, glancing to see their four friends watching with interest. "It was that family—That family that tried to take Hookfang. They caught me and Stephan when they tried to grab Toothless—."

He was interrupted by an affectionate growl before the dragon in question nearly knocked him down in greeting. "Hey, buddy!"

"Great, yeah could've figured that one out," Astrid said impatiently. "But what happened?"

Looking back at the blonde and gnawing his lip a little, Hiccup took a deep breath. "They found out Stephan was a prince," he said quickly. "And he helped me get out to find help."

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Astrid commanded, waving her hands for silence.

"Yeah," Tuffnut said, folding his arms. "Why would he help _you_?"

"No," Astrid said, giving him a look that told the boy to shut up, then she looked back at Hiccup with a subliminal concern in her eyes. "They know he's a prince?"

Feeling even more stupid, Hiccup gave a sheepish nod.

Astrid stared at him in horror. Clearly she knew the dangers of that as much as Hiccup did, even if their friends seemed to have no idea. Or maybe they just ignored the problems Stephan could be facing.

"This isn't good," she said finally, pinching her chin as she started to pace.

"So?" Snotlout asked, leaning on Hookfang's nose. "We just go to the mainland, get across to wherever these freaks live and get him back."

Ruffnut snorted. "Yeah, if he's still there," she said, rolling her eyes. "They could've sold him to a circus or the Det Com Nation by now."

"Or worse," Fishlegs voiced looking fidgety.

"Yeah, to Warnerstock," Tuffnut agreed.

"They couldn't sell him to Warnerstock, you idiot," Ruffnut said, giving her brother a shove in the head. "We took over most of them ages ago!"

"Well Anime then!" Tuffnut said, shoving her back.

"Guys! Focus!" Astrid ordered. "It doesn't matter, we need to find him."

"Why? He's a prince," Snotlout said. "He can figure out how to get out of it if Hiccup did."

"Because," Astrid growled, looking even more deadly than usual. "He's a _Disney_ prince. If anything happens to him and his dad doesn't see him in Bluthia by Friday, we'll have started an _International Incident_!"

"And that's bad?" Snotlout asked.

She glared at him, then (without warning, but with speed that Hiccup could only admire in a terrified sort of way) hit him over the head with a club. Sending their strongly built friend to the floor of their ship.

"Any objections to rescuing Stephan?" Astrid asked, lightly patting her club against her hand.

Hiccup and the others exchanged glances, then quickly shook their heads.

"Good," she said with a calming breath, then started towards the helm as the sun became a full circle on the horizon. "Alright, we've got three days to get Stephan and fly him over to Bluthia before Stoic or King Philip know anything's gone wrong. So let's get moving, people! Ruffnut. Tuffnut. Your turn to pull. Get us there fast."

The twins high-fived and moved towards their dragon, snickering at Snotlout as they stepped on him to get across the deck. Hiccup couldn't help smiling as Toothless nudged him again. If there was one thing he could say about his friends, he could count on them to do anything.

Even if they had no idea how to save the prince.

_**A/N:**__ Well... guess that didn't go well... *dons newscaster's outfit* What will Vector do with his two hostages? Will Hiccup and the others make it to their friends in time? And who will I throw into this ridiculous mash-up next?! Find out next time, here, on DrawnInTwilight's house of insanity! *bats away a line of encroaching plotbunnies* Have a good one everybody!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons part 8**

They'd been forced into a new room, which was actually right under the shark tank this time and a good ten times smaller, when Stephan (grudgingly) let himself and Margo be recaptured by the freak in an orange track suit. After trying to escape for a while, the two young teens found themselves sitting across from the door. Just watching the shark make circles in its tank.

When Vector came back again, several hours later, he wasn't alone. He was followed by a tall man with blonde hair and probably the most effeminate tunic Stephan had ever seen. And he lived with Mother and Odette, both of whom loved pinks and purples and frills, so that was definitely saying something. But this guy seriously didn't seem to care. He was actually eyeing Stephan and Margo with critical skepticism.

"You're sure this is it?" the man asked, his voice carried an aloof edge that Stephan recognized from some of the people he tended to stay away from at court and it already made him dislike the stranger.

"Positively," Vector announced proudly, folding his arms across the blinding warm-up suit.

The stranger copied the motion, but looked much more intimidating than Vector ever could be, and he sneered at the teenagers. "So I've finally gotten my hands on another royal brat."

Stephan glared, standing tall in his spot even though the blonde guy was at least another foot taller. "You haven't got anything," he announced, taking on the most imperious tone he could manage. "Who are you?"

The blonde snorted in disbelief. "You might be young, but even babies know my name," the man said. "My mother, the most powerful fairy-godmother, made sure of that."

"Not in my Empire," Stephan informed him.

"That's because her elder sister is in your empire," the man said, sounding disgusted, but he gave the boy a sly smile. "Serving the highest King, who strangely has a similar name..."

"Ch–Charming?" Stephan asked, struggling over the name as he stared at the blonde man looming in front of him. How could this guy share names with his sister's soon-to-be Father-in-law? "As in the guy who tried to take over Far Far Away?"

"Far Far Away?" Margo echoed, looking alarmed. "You mean that psycho that tried to kill King Artie and Shrek?"

"I am not a psycho!" the man yelled, which definitely didn't help his case. "And Far Far Away was rightfully mine!"

"No, it wasn't," Margo responded, folding her arms. Stephan had to give her some form of credit. Even though she was terrified of the incompetent Vector, she had no qualms of standing up to a man who was known for attempted assassination.

"I was supposed to save Princess Fiona," Blondie ranted as he stalked closer to the two teens. "I was supposed to marry her. I was supposed to be King!"

"But you didn't and you aren't," Margo pointed out.

"And I honestly doubt it would have lasted long," Stephan said before he could stop himself. He'd met Fiona, and her husband Shrek, and there was seriously no way someone with that strong of a personality would be able to spend much of any time in the same room as this guy.

Blondie's reflexes were quick and he grabbed hold of Stephan by the front of his tunic, lifting him off the ground and pulling him so close the boy could actually smell the horrific previous meal still on the poser's breath. Behind him, Margo had grabbed hold of Stephan's wrist, which was great for keeping his senses grounded and avoiding being ill on the smell.

"You, boy," Blondie growled, "don't know what you're talking about." Then he let Stephan go, dropping him on top of Margo and sending them both down into a sprawling heap as he continued his monologue. "But that won't matter for long-."

"Are you okay?" Stephan whispered to Margo, scooting off of her.

"Yeah, fine," she whispered back, rubbing her elbow.

"-for I have already set plans into motion," Blondie raved dramatically. "And soon your kingdom will belong to me!"

"What?!" Stephan yelped, his hands balling into fists as he got back to his feet. "What are you talking about? You can't take a Disney kingdom."

"Oh I can when there's no heir," Blondie said menacingly.

Margo gasped and Stephan felt the color drain from his face. "Even if you kill me," the young prince said bravely, though he definitely didn't feel like it. "My sister would get the kingdom as her dowery-then it goes to Dorian."

"Not if she doesn't marry Prince Dorian," Blondie said.

If he'd thought he was going to be sick before, Stephan was really fighting queasiness now. "Why wouldn't she?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," Blondie said airily, then gave him a malicious grin. "Maybe because she'll want to see her brother alive again."

Margo was gripping his arm again, tighter this time and again she worked as Stephan's stabilizer. Allowing him to glare at the crazed villain towering over them instead of giving in to his own horror at the situation.

"So you'll force her to marry you?" Margo asked in disgust. "That's just... so wrong! You're like double her age!"

Prince Stephan practically threw himself in front of Margo as he saw the reaction start in Blondie's eyes and saved the girl from being kicked, but Stephan caught the pointy boot in his midsection. With a gasp of pain, he keeled over with Margo panicking around him.

~~°o°~~

Once the stars faded from his vision, the two teens were alone again with only the shark tank to light the room.

"Are you okay?" Margo asked, sounding even more anxious than before.

"Yeah," he rasped. "I'm fine."

Margo nodded, probably not believing him, but she seemed a little too close to shock to focus. Stephan pushed himself upright, feeling a dull ache across his abdomen that announced the presence of a very deep bruise, and scooted backwards until he could lean against the wall. Margo followed.

"So," he breathed, pulling his gaze down from the shark tank to attempt giving her a reassuring smile. "How good's your father at playing hero?"

The brunette gave a tiny huff of a laugh and then a small smile came to her lips. "He's done well enough before," she said. "The last time he saved me from Vector."

"Last time?" Stephan asked, fully expecting her not to say anything, but at least it explained partially why she was so terrified when they'd first gotten here.

But to his surprise, she told him her whole story. How she'd grown up in an awful orphanage. Then why her dad had initially adopted her and her sisters. She seemed to light up, though, when she reflected on all the funny times they'd shared as Gru slowly adapted to being their father. The fact that they'd been kidnapped had been bad timing, but in the end Gru had stepped up and managed to keep his daughters from dying at the hands of the idiot villain Vector.

"I thought I was going to die," she admitted. "When I jumped, I thought I was going to be a splatter on pavement. But Gru-Dad caught me. And then he made up for missing the recital when we got home with a dance party."

"Wow," he said, as it was really the only answer he could think of and it earned him a smile. He smiled back.

"How about your dad?" Margo asked hesitantly.

"Mine? Oh, uh, I don't think he knows I've been kidnapped at all yet," Stephan said, feeling his face grow warm. "Though, theoretically, Hiccup might have gotten back to Berk by now."

"Then he'll know?"

"Probably not," he said and got a wide-eyed demanding look from Margo, so he sighed and filled her in on his time in the Dreamworks Empire and why his father had left early. "Then I'm supposed to meet up with him in the Bluthian territories. I guess he'll find out when he gets there and I haven't shown up."

"We're going to get you home," Margo promised, looking him in the eyes almost frantically. "We'll find a way to keep you from Charming."

Looking back at Margo, Stephan realized he must have looked awful. There were times when he could effectively control his emotions, but he doubted this was one of them. Especially with her looking at him the same way Odette did when she knew he was scared. Granted, thinking of his sister right now really didn't help.

"Thanks," he choked out, his throat feeling peculiarly tight.

She took up his hand to give it a small squeeze, then rested her head tentatively on his shoulder. He gave her a curious glance, but didn't move away. Then he sighed, focusing on reigning in his emotions again and silently praying that help was on its way. But he couldn't help the glad feeling he got from knowing that he'd made several rather good friends here. And the feeling crept into his chest as a little more weight on his shoulder let him know that Margo was asleep. He followed soon after.

~~°o°~~

"So maybe they did sell him to the Det Com Nation," Tuffnut said as Hiccup and Astrid got up from peering into the basement window.

In response, of course, Ruffnut hit him upside the head. The whole team had landed in the Grue family backyard, which was only barely big enough for them to fit. Actually the dragons were already antsy and having a hard time keeping quiet while they dealt with the small space.

"Ow! What? It's possible," Tuffnut defended even though his sister had started glaring at him as much as Astrid was. "I'm just saying, there are some major villains over there who'd like to have a prince to torture."

Again his sister hit him, this time punching him in the gut so he doubled over in a heap on the ground.

Hiccup sighed. "I hate to say it, but he's right."

"See?" Tuffnut grunted from the grassy yard. "That's what I would do if I were a villain."

Ruffnut snorted. "You wouldn't last five minutes before your plans blew up in your face."

"Anyway," Astrid said before the boy twin could respond. "We need to figure-."

Whatever she'd been about to say was canceled as her attention snapped towards the back door. For a split second Hiccup looked at her in confusion, but then he heard it too-a little girl humming happily to herself, and getting closer.

Before any of them could move or Hiccup could order everyone back to their dragons, the door swung open and the small girl with her dark hair in a ponytail that practically stood on end came skipping out to join them. At first she didn't notice them, too preoccupied with her unicorn plushie, but it didn't take long for her to notice the five teenagers or the large reptiles in her company.

The little girl stared.

He wasn't sure what the others felt about the situation, but Hiccup's stomach was tying itself in knots.

Then the girl let out a delighted shriek. "Edith! EDITH! It worked! The dragons are here!"

Astrid glanced at Hiccup warily, both coming to the same conclusion (to get the heck out of there), but before either teen could do anything another girl burst out of the house. The girl who wore way too much pink to fit her personality. But she was grinning at them. Again, in that way that made the hairs on the back of Hiccup's neck prickle.

Satisfied with this turn of events, the blonde shifted her weight and folded her arms as a smug smirk came to her face. "I knew it would work."

"Girls? Where are you? We have to go now."

All five teens took a step or two back away from the door as the girls' father joined them on the back steps with a large and ridiculously lethal looking weapon resting against his shoulder. The master villain looked them over, his eyes stopping to narrow at Hiccup. "So," he said slowly, "You escape just to come back, huh?"

"I came back for my friend," Hiccup said, his voice sounded alot braver than he felt at the moment.

Grue looked at him a moment longer, then turned and went around the side of the house to a door that the Vikings hadn't really payed attention to. "Come on, girls. We have to go get your sister."

"Can't we take a dragon?" the one called Edith asked, but she and her little sister followed their father.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Hiccup shouted and darted after them to find himself in a garage where the family's primary vehicle looked like it came from another planet. "Woah," he mumbled, staring, but a strange sound of rushing air announced the family getting into their transport and he instantly frowned again. "Where is Stephan?!"

"Who?" Grue asked. "You mean the Prince? I do not know."

"How do you not know, you have him!" Hiccup pointed out.

"Not anymore," Grue said, looking as though he was enjoying this exchange at least a little bit.

"What do you mean?" Astrid asked, appearing at Hiccup's shoulder.

"He got taken too!" the smallest girl said cheerfully. "He's gonna rescue my sister!"

"No, we're going to rescue our sister, dummy," Edith said, rolling her eyes.

"Wait, what?" Hiccup asked.

"Margo forced us to let him go," she explained as her father strapped the smaller girl into a seat. "Then Vector came and took both of them."

Hiccup felt his stomach drop like a stone. He was too late.

"Okay," Astrid said slowly. "Who's Vector?"

"Our Nemesis!" the youngest girl announced from her seat.

"Don't mind Agnes, she just learned that word," Edith said dryly. "But it's true."

"Right," Hiccup said slowly as he mulled a new idea over. "So where does he live?"

Grue narrowed his eyes at the Viking teen. "And why would we help you?" he asked. "You and that prince have caused me enough problems already."

"Maybe because it's the right thing to do?" Astrid suggested, folding her arms and frowning at the man.

"Hmm," the villain said thoughtfully. "Nope! Don't care! Good bye little Vikings!"

Hiccup and Astrid glared as the strange looking vehicle quickly shot out of the garage and barely stopped to switch directions as it flew down the street.

"Great!" Astrid said, gesturing them in agitation. "Now what?"

But Hiccup slowly smirked and gave her arm a brief tug back before running back to their friends. "C'mon!" he shouted to them and climbed into Toothless's saddle. "We've got a villain to follow!"

_**A/N:**__ Yeah, Stephan can't call Charming by his name. It just strikes him as so wrong. lol *dons newscaster outfit again* Ahem. Will Charming's plans succeed? Will our prince suffer at the hands of a madman? Will the rescue teams get there in time? And will the little Grues get to ride dragons? Find out next time on Mousedom: Dangers and Dragons!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons part 9**

Prince Stephan and Margo Grue were laying on their backs, staring up at the overly large fish tank that made up the ceiling of their holding cell. It wasn't really a cell, though, Prince Stephan knew that from experience. It was more like a waiting room for visitors that you really didn't want to have stay long. Granted, the young prince and his new friend would have been more than happy to oblige and get out of this demented house, but that would put a damper on their captor's plans to take over Stephan's kingdom.

Either way, from what Stephan could tell, he was a dead man walking.

He hadn't said that to Margo, why give the girl even more to freak out about? But as the hours trickled by, it was getting painfully obvious. The only way Blondie's plan to marry Stephan's sister for the throne would work was if Odette was the only heir to the throne. Which meant that even though the ransom was going to promise Stephan would see his family again, it probably wouldn't be for long.

"Strange," he found himself saying as he watched Vector's shark swimming laps above them. "You'd think that I'd be used to death threats by now."

Margo didn't say anything and Stephan mentally kicked himself, she probably felt awkward enough in this bizarre situation. But then again, she was the daughter of a criminal mastermind. So maybe she at least understood.

A few moments passed with nothing to do but watch the shark make it's billionth lap around the tank.

"You're friends with the dragon trainer from Berk, right?" Margo asked.

"Uh, yeah, I think so," Stephan said, suddenly wondering when the term was allowed to be applied with normal people. "Why?"

"Does he know you're missing?"

Stephan snorted a laugh. "Yeah," he said and tilted his head to give her a smirk. "He was initially kidnapped with me."

"Wait, what?!"

The prince laughed outright, though probably more than the instance actually called for, as he realized that he'd never actually explained everything surrounding his initial kidnapping. "Hiccup-he's the dragon trainer," he explained. "I think your father and sisters were trying to kidnap him, I just ended up along for the ride. Then they found out who I was. So we tried to escape, but only Hiccup had time to get out."

"And I came home after that," Margo groaned, embarrassed anew by this new revelation in her family's version of 'helping'. "I'm really so sorry."

"Honestly, I've had worse happen," Stephan said. "Its just my luck this trip."

"But won't-you said his name was Hiccup?" Margo asked, pushing up to her elbows to look at him strangely. When Stephan smirked again and nodded, she shrugged it off. "Well, won't he try to come find you, too?"

"Yes, he said he would," Stephan said, nodding again. "If he can get to his dragon in time."

"Hmm." Margo nodded too, staring at her shoes for a moment. "Well, sounds like we need a back-up plan either way."

"What about your family?" Stephan asked, pushing himself up too.

She gave him a lopsided smile. "Anything with my family goes through at least plan F on a good day."

"Alright, plan G it is," Stephan said with a smirk. And the two set into analyzing everything around them. He already had, it was the first thing he did thanks to his strategy courses, but having a second pair of eyes were helpful too. The door was locked, there was no furniture or windows, and the air ducts were way too high to even dream of reaching.

But as Margo brought up the idea of attempting to pick the lock with one of her barrettes, Stephan's eyes fell on the doorframe. And suddenly he felt stupid. Then he was laughing until the bruise on his stomach started to ache.

"What?" Margo asked insistently, nudging his shoulder.

"The hinges," he gasped through his laughter. "I can't believe it."

"What?"

Forcing himself to breathe and get a grip, Stephan gave her a bright smile. "When I was two years old, my mother's favorite baby-sitter was kidnapped by the evil witch that plagues my family."

"O...kay," Margo said slowly, looking at him as though she was starting to question his sanity. "_How_ is that a good thing?"

"She managed to escape before Dad could get there to help," he said, with a mischievous gleam to his eye. "And she told me how she got out."

~~°o°~~

"Genius," Margo sighed, watching him with awe.

The prince cast her a smile, but quickly turned back to his work. It had taken only a few moments of examining the door's hinges to realize that they could be undone. Held in place by large metal pins, Stephan had resorted to using the buckle of his belt for added force and leverage against the smooth metal.

He worked the top pin loose after a minute or so, then he went to work on the bottom pin, which came out just as easily. "Alright," he said, though his voice was quiet with the anxious feeling growing in his gut. "One to go."

"Hurry," Margo whispered from right behind his shoulder, glancing upward. "I don't trust that shark."

Stephan briefly glanced up too, but kept his energy on applying force to the belt buckle. If nothing else, he hoped his sister was going to pick hip up a new one after all this, because there was no way this was going to be flat anymore.

The middle pin turned out to be more annoyingly stubborn and Margo was gripping his sleeve anxiously. "I think they're upstairs," she whispered. "Above the shark tank."

"Can they see us?" Stephan asked, still keeping his attention on the pin.

"I don't know," Margo answered, crouching close enough that he could feel her shift to look up again. "Maybe."

"Great," Stephan grunted and with one extra shove he practically fell forward as the door creaked and crashed to the ground. Luckily Margo still had a hold on him and managed to keep him on his feet. "Thanks. Uh, well," he breathed, glancing back up at the shark that was now moving with more energy. "I'll bet they heard that. Run!"

Margo nodded and the two teens took off down the hall, hoping that their collective memory could get them to an exit.

Angered shouts followed them as they darted this way and that. Then Margo pulled Stephan towards the large orange door and they heaved it open to find themselves back in the small courtyard. Where there was already a bit of a battle going on.

The little yellow things from the Grue family's house, as well as the rest of the Grues, were trying their darnedest to get past the absurd amount of defenses that Vector had coming out of ever location of his outer walls.

"Stop them!" Blondie's voice rang through the air, spurring the teens to run across the yard even faster. "Bring them back!"

Dead-looking trees that had been against the wall, lining either side of their exit, suddenly started to move. Pulling themselves away from the wall and the ground. Margo let out a scream of alarm and Stephan skidded to a stop just inches from the reaching branches.

"Well," he panted. "That explains where Queen Snow's nightmare trees went."

With an incoherent growl, the trees swiped at them, making Margo scream again as both of them were knocked to the ground.

"The boy! Bring me the boy!" Blondie shouted from the top of the steps. "I don't care what you do to the girl!"

Promising himself that he'd make the man regret his code of ethics later, Stephan attempted to shield Margo as the branches moved for another swipe. But even with the creaking over the branches and blasts of ray guns, he could swear another, slightly more familiar sound had joined the din. Followed by an even more familiar voice.

"Stephan!"

~~°o°~~

The prince had never been so happy to hear his name being shouted in his entire life. Instantly his gaze went to the skies and he held up an arm to show were he was. A mighty roar cut through the air with a rippling pulse. Around them, the trees froze in horror for a moment before they bolted, trying to run for cover as more roars echoed the first.

"Hiccup! Astrid!" Stephan shouted. "Over here!"

"No!" Blondie bellowed as the dragons' wings kicked up the wind in the courtyard. "I will not loose that kingdom!"

"Go castle shopping elsewhere," Stephan shouted at the older man as he helped Margo to her feet again. "I'm keeping mine!"

Again the evil former prince growled in anger, but the blasting sounds had started up again and Stephan was preoccupied. "Margo," he said, gripping the shorter girl by her forearm. "You have to get on Toothless."

"I-I don't really like heights," she said, shying away from the dark-scaled dragon even though it was clearly their only way out.

Knowing her history with flying, the prince really couldn't blame her. But there was no way he was going to leave her with people more insane than her family. "You have to," he said, guiding her closer to Hiccup's outstretched hand. "Its our only way out! And I'll be with you, okay? You still trust me, right?"

Margo took a second and a deep breath, then nodded and finally reached her hand forward though she scrunched her eyes closed. Her hand had barely taken hold of Hiccup's when Toothless let out a cry of warning.

Stephan didn't even get a chance to look back as he was sent sprawling to the ground several feet away. Blinking stars away from his vision and forcing air back into his lungs, Stephan staggered to his feet to face Blondie as the taller man strode toward the young prince with an effective leer on his face.

Prince Stephan's gaze flickered back across to Toothless and his new friends who were slowly getting surrounded by reaffirmed trees and laser guns. If they didn't take off now, they'd definitely be trapped. "Hiccup," he called across the yard. "Get her out of here!"

"What?!" Hiccup yelped, staring at him as though the prince had grown an extra head. "I came back to get you, remember!"

"I know," Stephan said, his eyes never leaving his captor as he backed away from his friends. "I can hold for a few more minutes."

"Stephan!" Margo shouted, her eyes now large as they found him.

"Trust me!" Stephan shouted back.

His friends exchanged glances, then Hiccup reluctantly signaled for Toothless to take off. "Astrid!" the young viking's voice echoed in the air, mingled with a muffled scream from Margo. "Cover Stephan!"

Another dragon screeched from where guns were still firing at the little yellow creatures and the Grus. There was no way the fearless girl would be able to help soon enough.

_**A/N:**__ So I managed to get some work done, which seems to be rather unfortunate for Prince Stephan. *glances at newscaster outfit; shrugs; goes back to working*_


	10. Chapter 10

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part 10)**

Hiccup wanted to club Prince Stephan. Just one swift blow to the head. What was that kid thinking? Going "self-sacrificing" at the last minute! It had been tricky enough to land in that courtyard when the trees were still pretty close to the walls, but now? Now he'd be lucky if he could even lower a rope to the foreigner.

And the fact that there was a girl holding him in a death-grip (he was pretty sure he'd lost a rib or two) wasn't helping.

Urging Toothless to land a safe distance away, which turned out to be something of a neighborhood park, Hiccup turned to the girl who still had him around the middle. "We, uh, we landed," he tried, but the girl's face remained pressed into his back. "You can let go now."

She still didn't budge.

Inwardly cursing the Prince and wondering if Stephan had actually said the girl's name or not, Hiccup sighed and managed (albeit awkwardly) to slide out of the dragon's saddle. The amazing part was staying upright as he landed on his mechanical leg, but then he supposed that the girl's feet helped with that. But she still wouldn't let go.

Hiccup tried pulling at her hands and prying at her fingers, but nothing worked. Even twisting to get a different angle only ended up with the fabric of his tunic crinkling and pressing uncomfortably into his skin.

Eventually he sighed. This was going to be a long rescue.

~~°o°~~

Not for the first time this trip, let alone today, Prince Stephan was questioning his own sanity. He'd just sent two of his new friends flying away (albeit one was screaming as they went) from the encroaching evil trees and their leader—the psycho with a sword. Meanwhile, he'd stayed behind. Unarmed. And not remotely wearing protection.

Yeah, there were hundreds of ways this could go badly.

Blondie's evil grin broadened. Clearly he knew it too. "Let's see," he said, not caring that Stephan was matching his steps to keep a distance between them. "If you face me, you'll definitely never see your family again. Now wouldn't it be better if you could see them one more time first."

"Not happening, fake prince," Stephan snapped, keeping his arms out to the sides as he continued to lead Blondie in a circle, hoping he wouldn't run out of space. "If you were actually able to defeat me, you'd prove it by giving me a sword-fighting me, man to man!"

Granted, it was probably not a good idea to taunt a psycho that has become a menace to multiple empires, but it kept the attention on him and that's what Stephan was counting on.

The evil prince of Dreamworks let out a growl of disagreement. "I could give you an entire arsenal but fighting you, man to boy," he spat, gesturing to himself and then the young prince, "wouldn't even hold a contest."

"Because you'd loose," Stephan suggested, smirking. Never had he been so happy that he'd had to deal with Princess Melody's uncanny ability to egg people on. It had always been something of an irritation when she directed her talents at him, but right now it was the best inspiration he could have asked for.

It may have worked too well, or maybe Stephan was having a little too much fun standing up against an adult, and Blondie's quick reflexes tried to kill him. Stephan had barely escaped the blade piercing his chest. A hiss escaped him as it cut through his left arm, steadily dampening his shirt just below the shoulder with crimson.

He pressed down on the wound with his right hand, glancing down to check that it wasn't too deep a wound as Blondie let out a vicious chuckle. "Well, well," he chided, and Stephan shot him a glare. "Disney royals don't bleed blue after all."

Stephan forced himself to stand straighter again, letting go of the wound which stung against the soft breeze. He was pretty sure the bleeding hadn't stopped, if anything this was probably getting worse, but there was no way he was going to let that smug expression stay on Blondie's face.

~~°o°~~

Astrid couldn't believe what she was seeing. The amount of protections this guy had on his house made Mildew, that crabby old hermit back home, seem sane. That or the two would get along a little too well. She cringed at the thought.

Urging Stormfly into the air, she took in the battle field. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were drawing fire on the north side, being idiots as usually but at least she could count on their stupidity. Snotlout was focusing efforts on the front door along with Fishlegs. And the family of psychos was battling the south. There was no sign of Hiccup or Toothless, not since he'd shouted for Astrid to cover the prince. Bad timing on that one, no sooner had she looked up when it started raining sea creatures-more specifically, eels. Which sent Stormfly into a panic.

Now that her dragon had calmed down, she was finally able to see the real problem. Inside the courtyard, a good dozen or so trees were moving-that's right moving-angrily towards the center of the yard, where two golden haired males were matching each other's steps. The taller of the two was dressed in clothes that made her grimace, but he had a dangerous air about him and the sword he held. The shorter, most definitely Stephan, looked determined but there was already a pretty bad gash on his forearm. Astrid frowned.

A strange noise came from below and Astrid felt heat pass very close to her face. With a gasp she angled Stormfly away from the wall, they'd stayed still a minute too long. Dodging blasts from the numerous laser guns, Astrid worked loose the axe she'd strapped to her back. If she couldn't get to him, she sure as Thor's hammer wasn't going to leave him without a weapon.

With a quick shout of the Prince's name, she let the instrument fall.

~~°o°~~

"Stephan!"

He looked up, barely noticing that Blondie did too, and found a battle axe quickly plummeting towards him as the blue dragon swooped overhead. He had to jump to catch it, and it turned out to be heavier than he'd thought, but it couldn't have come at a better time.

"Thank you, Astrid!" he shouted.

"Look out!" was her response as Stormfly banked hard to the left and narrowly avoided being hit by a laser beam. Stephan pulled his attention back to glimpse the anger in Blondie's lunge and barely managed to spin away from the blade.

_Just a practice,_ Stephan told himself as he managed to block another swing. _Just like an exercise against Dorian._

Except it wasn't his soon-to-be brother-in-law. And if he lost here it wouldn't result in gentle teasing. There was alot weighing on whether he made it out of there and it didn't help that he wasn't really all that knowledgeable about fighting with an ax. _But I've been in situations like this before,_ his brain tried to rationalize. It was one of his father's favorite ways to teach-throw him a strange weapon and let him figure it out while defending himself. Then explain it.

Stephan narrowly missed the blade as it came at him again only to even more narrowly duck in time to avoid a tree branch. Apparently the enchanted trees had gotten over their fear of fire.

"You can't beat me, you little brat!" Blondie spat. "And I don't have to keep you alive to get your throne!"

~~°o°~~

Glaring at the man across from him, Stephan shifted his grip, spinning the axe in his hands as he continued to match Blondie's movements step for step. If nothing else it helped him take in his surroundings. There were still battles going on at all sides of the outer walls. Spontaneous shots of fire let him know that at least two of his new friends were still battling the lasers and robots that Vector continually summoned on his strange looking keyboard.

Meanwhile, powered by something darker than technology, Blondie's collection of foliage henchmen were still closing in. Honestly, he'd thought Queen Snow's account of being chased through the forest had been a little exaggerated when he'd first heard it. First thing he was going to do when he got back was write her a letter of apology for not believing that a tree could be menacing.

But even that thought brought some reassurance. These were trees. He was holding an axe. If nothing else, he could always force his way free of them. Now if only Blondie wasn't so good with a sword.

"Why do you want my kingdom so badly?" Stephan asked, searching for means of distraction. "You could take over numerous places out here!"

It was true, sort of. There were at least three kingdoms, two Lordships, and numerous towns and cities along with them. But the towns and cities had one thing different-elected officials and offices that only held for four years. Clearly not something Blondie would want.

"By taking your kingdom, I will gain the power of the Disney Empire," Blondie sneered. "And with that power I will invade Far Far Away-taking back the kingdom that is rightfully mine!"

"You won't get away with it," Stephan said, fully aware that they were barely five feet from each other now as he avoided reaching branches. "The other kings and queens will stop you."

The man scoffed, his buoyant hair bouncing with a toss of his head. "The newer ones are too young to take me on," he said. "And the seasoned ones are too old!"

"I know of at least one who could beat you blind-folded," Stephan snapped, his ire growing even as he thought of one particular firey redheaded princess (whom he wished was along side him at the moment). "And Mickey won't allow you to abuse the bridges between Disney and Dreamworks!"

"You think so?" Blondie growled.

"I know so."

"A mouse is no match for me!" He lunged, the sword aiming dangerously for Stephan's chest.

The young prince spun away and brought his axe down upon the blade with all the strength he could muster. To his complete shock, the sword snapped. Or, well, shattered more like. Pieces of metal littered the ground between them.

Stephan's wide-eyed gaze snapped up to see the surprise turn to rage on the fallen royal's face as Blondie surveyed the short piece of metal still attached to the gaudy golden hilt. It was still sharp, with an added jagged edge now, and leveled right at the young prince's abdomen.

_Okay_, the prince thought slowly, _so maybe that was a bad idea_.

~~°o°~~

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted and hopped off Stormfly, spotting the scrawny boy trying to make his way back from a nearby street with Toothless following him. Her eyebrows shot up in question at the sight of a petite brunette clinging to him tightly, her accusing glare only reduced slightly when she saw the mildly harassed look on the boy's face.

But Hiccup's expression changed instantly as his eyes locked with Astrid's. "Where's Stephan?"

"I couldn't get to him," she said, looking back the direction she'd come in.

"What?!" Hiccup yelped. "Astrid!"

"I gave him an axe," the blonde defended, crossing her arms. "It was impossible to get close! Those trees are at least ten feet tall!"

A burst of flames shot up by the house that had become a battle ground, pulling the attention of the two Vikings and their dragons. Toothless let out a roar of concern and made jerking motions towards the fight.

"My dad is going to kill me," Hiccup groaned, staring at the scene in something close to despair.

"C'mon," Astrid urged, rolling her eyes at him and went to climb back onto Stormfly.

"I can't," Hiccup said, gesturing to the girl still crushing him with her hold. "She'll break another rib if we fly."

Astrid raised an eyebrow at him, slowly fighting her amusement when she realized he was serious. Then she rejoined him to inspect the younger girl curiously for a moment. With a quick movement, she'd gotten the girl to let go with a squeak. Pink faced and flustered, the brunette adjusted the glasses on her nose and the skirt she wore while frowning at Astrid.

Hiccup stared at her. "How did you do that?"

The taller girl just smiled and climbed back onto her dragon. "Let's go," she said, patting Stormfly's side. "We've got a friend to save."

Hiccup nodded, his face set with determination, but his eyes landed on the girl he'd been forced to rescue. Now that she'd calmed down, the brunette looked like one of those people who was too smart for their own good.

"Uhh... Stay here," Hiccup told her an climbed into Toothless's saddle.

Now this girl was raising an eyebrow at him, but as soon as he'd hooked mechanical foot into the stirrup Toothless was shooting into the air and he didn't hear the snort of disbelief, "As if."

Both dragon riders were so focused on the scene they were racing towards, they failed to notice the small form running after them down below.

_**A/N:**__ Well... I really hope that all makes sense. Just a bunch of choppy little segments... Then again, it is battle time-and very little makes sense in battle. _


	11. Chapter 11

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part 11)**

With a roar, Blondie lunged forward. Stephan dodged him, ducking to the left and under a branch arm that skimmed the top of his hair. When he stood up again, the circle of trees had shrunk even more. At a guess, it was down to maybe just over four feet across. Maybe less. Definitely within arm's reach no matter where he stood.

"Hold still, boy! I'm only going to _gut_ you," Blondie snarled as he once again missed and Stephan blocked the broken sword with his ax.

"I prefer staying in one piece, actually. Thank you," Stephan responded, a little too weary to care if he'd remembered to add snark to the comment. He wasn't really sure if Blondie noticed it or not, but Stephan was definitely tiring out. His arms were straining from the different weight of his new weapon and there was only so many times anyone could walk in a circle without tripping.

But Blondie was too interested in taunting him with plans of the future. The taller man shot him a glare, then put in another attempt to get him with the broken blade. "Give up, boy!" Blondie sneered. "You've already lost! You can't escape. Your pitiful friends can't even get past the outer wall!"

"That's not true," Stephan snapped. Showing an emotion during a duel was not a good idea, it showed your opponent your weakness, but the prince was thoroughly tired of being ridiculed and even more so tired of hearing the people he'd come to trust be insulted. "They're more clever than you could ever hope to be! They're Berk's best."

A sinister smile spread across Blondie's face, instantly making Stephan regret saying anything at all. "Berk, huh?" the twisted man asked, his eyes sparkling with an interest that set the prince on edge. Then he chuckled and straightened his stance to grin at the young boy as he continued conversationally, "Well, well. Your connections cover alot of ground, don't they? Now what was that little bit I heard about Berk the other day? Oh yes, the Vikings of Berk have made a few enemies along the way."

Stephan snorted in response. All cultures had made enemies "along the way"-Heck! Stephan was staring at one of them right now!

"Oh not just any enemy," Blondie assured him. "A pirate tribe of Vikings. Their leader-what was his name? Alvin, I believe-is said to have an interest in your little friends and their pets. Particularly for the chief's son."

Prince Stephan staggered his next few steps, his eyes going wide momentarily before he glared up at his unscrupulous foe.

It was the reaction Blondie wanted and he gave a leering grin. "All I have to do is write one letter and the boy is as good as Alvin's," he hissed. "And that entire island will fall into war. All the rest of your friends there will parish!"

~~°o°~~

"Ya know," Snotlout said loudly over the sound of lasers firing and dragon roars. "We'd have the prince and be outta here if I was leading."

Maybe twenty feet away, at another section of laser covered wall, Ruffnut and Tuffnut exchanged glances before rolling their eyes. They may not agree on everything, but certain things (like Snotlout's unprecedented ego) they agreed on.

"Right," Ruffnut laughed as their dual headed dragon spewed both gas and fire towards the walls. "Because you _totally_ knew he was missing in the first place."

"I have an inner sense about these things!" Snotlout boasted, ignoring them.

"Uh, guys?" Fishlegs called as he urged Meatlug to join them. "Does anyone know if lasers run out of ammo?"

"Yeah," Tuffnut said, dryly. "I'm _totally_ an expert laser person."

"We're from the same classes as you, idiot," Ruffnut said, rolling her eyes.

"Ok, well, maybe she'd know?" Fishlegs asked.

Tuffnut let out a yelp of alarm and swerved to dodge a flaming projectile which knocked his helmet sideways. "She who?"

"Astrid?" Ruffnut asked hopefully, glancing to the sky for a sign of her best friend.

"No! Down there!" the larger boy pointed out squeakily.

Both twins followed his gaze, which served as the perfect distraction to send them and their Zippleback sprawling across a neighboring yard. Snotlout, though, only had to glance down momentarily before he turned his dragon around to fly next to the running form. When he was close enough, the muscular Viking lounged against the Monestrous Nightmare to give her a smile. "Hey," he drawled. "How's it going?"

The girl glanced at him warily from behind her square-framed glasses and moved her steps further to the side, away from the dragon. But Snotlout considered her looking at him at all to be as good as an invitation.

~~°o°~~

His lungs were starting to have trouble working, as though they'd forgotten how much space they had. Or maybe his rib-cage was shrinking. But Stephan forced himself to slow his breathing. If he panicked now... What would happen to his friends?...

Blondie was as good as ensuring the worst fate possible for Hiccup and Astrid and everyone he cared about on that island. Dying would leave the attack open and none of the Vikings would know beforehand. And getting involved-helping Hiccup against that threat in anyway-would create such a massive international incident. Legally it would take years to even be allowed back again, illegally would probably launch a scaled down version of the invasion Blondie was already trying to cause.

Several explosions mixed with strange accents faintly broke through his thoughts. Bringing his thoughts back to his initial captors. He'd gotten Margo out, at least. Maybe they'd help him if he needed them to defend Berk?

"I hope you're not thinking about that _homely_ little girl you were here with," Blondie said with a laugh, as though he could guess where Stephan's frantic thoughts went. "Even if Vector is an imbecile, she'll spend the rest of her days in a prison worse than any nightmare! Perhaps in Rapunzel's old tower..."

No doors, one window, and a seven story drop. Margo wouldn't last a day.

Blondie was grinning at him when Stephan pulled himself back out of his thoughts.

"I will stop you," Stephan assured the psycho standing before him.

"Really?" Blondie scoffed. "Even with the more dangerous weapon, you can't carry that big of a threat!"

Stephan glared. "One way to find out."

Blondie raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. And without another word, Stephan switched to offensive and attacked.

~~°o°~~

Running from the park to Vector's house was at least six blocks. Not the biggest distance, but Margo was still breathing a little harder than she'd have liked by time she could see the groups facing off against the lasers and it made her pause. One side of the house was being assailed by her family, while the other had three strange and outrageous looking dragons each complete with rider. But her eyes followed the two dragons who'd carried the teens from the park. They were circling above the courtyard, where she could see the tops of the trees moving around behind Vector's outer wall. Like they were converging on something. _Or someone_.

"Stephan," Margo gasped and pushed to run faster.

A random glance upward was the only warning she had before a giant reptile dropped to fly alongside her. It took almost all the focus she had to keep running as the rather greasy looking Viking teen tried to get her attention.

"Hey," he said, giving her a strange smile. "How's it going?"

Margo turned her face back toward Vector's house as she rolled her eyes. Of all things she could have had to deal with, did it have to be someone that was trying to slow her down?

"Where ya headed?" he asked. "Maybe I could give you a lift. Ever been on a dragon before? I bet you've never seen a dragon like this before."

"Actually, yeah," she said, dodging a fire hydrant. "I have.

That threw him for a moment, at least long enough for Margo to spot a possible way to avoid him.

"Yeah?" he said finally. "Well I bet I'm the fastest! I bet Hookfang and I can fly higher too! We can take you all the way to the moon! Heh? What do you say?"

"No, thank you," Margo quipped, darting between a telephone pole and a tree.

The shout and sudden crash behind her was enough to assure her that the Viking was paused, at least momentarily. But, since she only knew one—maybe two—of the Dragon Riders, she opted out of running to their side and instead sprinted with what energy she had left towards her family.

"Dad!" she shouted. "Edith! Agnes!"

Each of the members in the Grue family looked up. Agnes brightened with delight, Edith grinned and settled her weapon on her shoulder. Grue tossed his own weapon to the side, effectively taking out one of his own minions, and ran to meet her. Even though they'd been a family now for well over a year, Margo still found herself surprised as he pulled her into a tight hug and then held her at arm's length to inspect her.

"Are you alright?" he demanded. "Nothing broken?"

"Yeah, Dad, I'm fine," she said, blushing a little as she tugged her hair more firmly behind her ear. Then she looked up again urgently. "Have you heard anything? About what's going on inside?"

"No," Grue confirmed, glancing back towards the fortress, where his minions were failing spectacularly against the lasers still firing down on them. "But now that you are here, we can go! Minions! Everyone back in car!"

Instantly minions and Margo's sisters were on the move.

"Wait! No," Margo pleaded, tugging on Grue's sleeve. "We can't! Stephan's still in there."

"Stephan?" Edith asked, raising an eyebrow from the car door.

"The prince," Margo clarified, waving off her sister's pointed look. "He got me out. I can't just _leave_ him."

"We do not have enough weapons," Grue explained, gesturing widely to the ground around them, which was littered with broken machines. "We were already running on our last resources!"

Margo grimaced, gnawing her lower lip a little.

"Doesn't matter anyway," Edith said and pointed towards Vector's house. "He's about to get fried."

"_What?!_" Margo spun to face the building. With large eyes, she watched as the black dragon she'd escaped on fired into the courtyard. With Stephan still inside.

_**A/N:**__ Dun dun dun lol And Vector's house is gonna be under remodeling soon..._


	12. Chapter 12

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part 12)**

One thing Stephan could say about fighting with anger powering him, was that it helped him get over how tired he was. Yeah, his arms were still aching and he definitely wished he could take a break, but it didn't occupy his thoughts. For each match swing and dodged attempt his mind was focused on the people trying to get to him. If they were going through all this for him, he was going to do as much as he could for them.

And, honestly, he was doing pretty well. Perhaps this was the same way his father had felt when facing off against Maleficent that first time.

It was something of an ego boost to see the irritation on Blondie's face when he got close with the ax or ducked away from the sword. But nothing good lasts long and with Blondie being strong than him, a couple hits in Stephan wasn't sure he could keep it up much longer. He caught the blade in the end of his ax, where it sat in the space between the two curved blades.

"Handy," he muttered and shoved the man away.

They both staggered back a step or two, panting and sizing each other up. But a flash of color drew his eyes upward and Stephan couldn't help giving up some of his breath in a laugh. Dragons-two of them-were circling around over head. Toothless and Stormfly.

"Stephan!" Astrid shouted down.

"Oh thank God," he sighed.

But Stephan's relief was short lived. In a split second the sharp edge of the broken blade was pulled against his neck and the ax dropped from his hold as Blondie's hand clamped down on his burned arm, ripping a cry of pain from him as the arm was twisted ruthlessly behind his back.

"No!" his friends shouted in anger, joined by Toothless's growl and Stormfly's shrill screech. They circled one more time before Toothless angrily took out the laser guns atop the courtyard's doorway and the dragons perched upon its edge.

Stephan pulled and tried to kick himself loose, only to be pulled further back into the psycho's hold.

"Last chance, boy," Blondie's breath hissed into his ear, making Stephan shudder. "Come quietly or let them watch you die."

~~°o°~~

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelped, swatting him in the shoulder. "_Do_ something!"

"Like what?" the stressed boy asked.

"I don't know!" Astrid snapped, watching Stephan angrily having some quiet exchange with his captor. "_Something_!"

Hiccup's eyes were locked on Stephan's, watching the purple orbs grow stormy with anger and then suddenly spotting something in them that made Hiccup's stomach twist-Prince Stephan had come up with a plan. Judging by the last few times the Royal Heir of EPCOT France had come up with a plan, it didn't take much to know what ever the prince was planning-it was would be risky at best.

Stephan's gaze met his. Whatever doubts Hiccup had had were chased from his mind by the determination and self assured look the boy possessed. Holding their connection, the prince widely mouthed the quiet question he posed to Charming.

"And if I have them fire on us?"

Hiccup's mouth fell open. He wanted to _what_?!

"What?" Astrid asked warily, catching on to the boys' focus. "What's the matter?"

The Dragon-Trainer could only shake his head dumb-foundedly. Across the yard, Charming wasn't believing that they'd send any dangerous blasts toward them, but Stephan firmly assured that they would and gave Hiccup a pointed look.

"It'll work," the look said. "I trust you."

Hiccup groaned and easily conveyed his response. "Well that's good, cuz I don't."

"Just do it," Stephan's final look shouted before his gaze was forced upward as the blade made its way dangerously up the boy's throat.

"Toothless," Hiccup said, his voice coming out low to his own ears. The dragon's ears twitched back, though the beast itself was still trained on the scene below them. "Pull."

"_What?!_" Astrid yelped.

"Toothless! _Now_!" Hiccup shouted.

With only a split second of hesitation, the dragon let loose an energy blast toward their new friend and Hiccup pulled his gaze away, readying himself for the sound of impact and probably the prince's death.

~~°o°~~

Astrid couldn't look away. It felt like her heart had fallen to join her stomach and the seconds had suddenly slowed down as the electric defense of Hiccup's Night Fury shot towards the princes.

There was no way this could work! Whatever Hiccup's plan was-it just _couldn't_! Stephan had a knife already at his throat-held up so high that he couldn't even look at them anymore-and now Toothless had opened fire on him! What the heck had Hiccup been thinking? Was he even-.

Her frantic mental tirade came to a screeching halt as her eyes grew even rounder. They'd moved.

Before the blast could reach them, Prince Charming had let out a shout of alarm, then ducked out of the line of fire. Pulling Stephan with him. The knife moved away from the younger prince's throat as the boy curled forward, nearly landing on the ground.

Astrid's eyes followed him. He looked pained, as though he might have preferred chancing a direct hit compared to right now. But as the tree behind them was hit and burst into flame, Stephan's eyes took on a fierce determination.

"Hiccup!" She almost couldn't register that she'd been the one who shouted as the next few seconds suddenly sped up. Starting with Stephan managing to get his free hand on the battle ax and ramming his head backwards into Charming's nose, and ending with with the prince staggering back a few steps as the elder man was dragged away with a retreating tree-his wrist pinned by the dual edged ax.

"Go," Hiccup said and Astrid glanced up to find him fully composed again and his face set with determination as he and Toothless dove down into the chaotic courtyard.

Astrid and Stormfly were barely meters behind them, taking down the scattering trees as they went.

~~°o°~~

Stephan felt like he was going to be ill, which he wasn't sure whether or not was from the pain searing through his arm or the fact that he may have dented his head in the attempt to break Blondie's nose. Whatever the case, his head felt like it was swimming. He only had a vague awareness as he spun away from the man and drove the ax upward to capture the fake prince's sword arm in the arc cause by the two blades of the weapon. Then he'd basically stapled Blondie to the nearest tree seconds before it ran away from the burning member of its team.

There was even an odd ringing in his head as he tried to survey the battlefield. Toothless's blast definitely did the trick. The tree that took the hit had toppled into another and they were definitely not moving anymore, making the Prince feel an odd pang of guilt for having caused it.

A soft roar above the din made him turn, but even before he could make heads or tails of what was happening, the prince found himself quickly rising further and further away from his prison. For a moment he was fairly sure he must be dead, but then he was lightly tossed only to land atop none other than the black dragon who'd helped his plan and a welcomely familiar voice came from the boy sitting on the saddle in front of him.

"You okay, there, Stephan?"

Prince Stephan nearly burst out laughing. "Yeah," he shouted back over the wind, gripping the back of Hiccup's vest for some form of stability as his mind continued to spin. "Yes, I'm okay."

"Good," the chief's son said, glancing back with a smile of relief before he looked out at the surrounding sky and shouted. "Let's go home!"

Several delighted roars and shouts of approval answered him and Stephan couldn't help smiling. Somehow he'd managed to make friends so close, they'd fly all over to rescue him. But the thought triggered another.

"Wait! What about Margo?" he asked, giving Hiccup's vest a gentle tug.

"She's fine," Hiccup assured him. "I told her to stay in the park."

"But shouldn't we return her to her family?" Stephan asked.

"No need," Astrid's voice chimed in as she and Stormfly matched Toothless's pace. "Snotlout's been trying to get a date out of her-she had to get her dad to threaten him for the idiot to stop."

"I can't help it if the ladies love me!" they heard the Viking in question brag to Fishlegs and the twins.

Astrid and Hiccup exchanged glances before giving into snorts of laughter. Shaking his head with a sigh, though it made him dizzy, Stephan looked back towards the column of smoke-the only thing left in view of where he'd been fighting for his life. He'd have liked to say good-bye to the girl who'd been his companion for so long, but convincing the Dragon Riders to do so would probably go nowhere.

Besides, home sounded like a very good idea.

~~°o°~~

"Stephan!" Margo shouted as the five dragons took off into the sky. But it was no use, within moments they were fully out of view beyond the tree line.

She stared after them. It was silly, she knew, but for some reason it just felt... She didn't know, disappointing might have been a good way to put it. But, really, what had she been expecting? The prince would feel some form of connection? Her family had been the ones who caused all of this, she reminded herself.

After a few minutes more, while her father gathered minions and her sisters into the family's strange spaceship-like-car, Margo sighed and climbed inside to find a seat.

"What is wrong?" Grue asked as she took up the front passenger seat and he quickly stepped on the gas. "You are not happy to be away from Vector?"

"Yeah, I am," Margo said, though she knew she didn't sound it.

"Did you get to kiss the prince?" came her little sister's chirpy voice.

"Agnes," Edith groaned.

"No," Margo consented, looking down at her skirt for a moment before she turned her attention out the window.

Grue glanced at her a few times as he tried to keep an eye on the road. There were very few time he'd seen his oldest adoptive daughter look so disappointed. And over some prince? Was this what girls did? What a messy idea!

But... he couldn't bear seeing her so down cast.

"Dad!" the daughter in question squeaked in alarm as the former villain turned the vehicle sharply to the left.

"Whee!" Agnes cried out gleefully.

"Awesome!" Edith cheered.

"What are you doing?!" Margo screeched, holding on for dear life as Grue continued to speed off down the road.

"Heading to the northern docks," Grue said with a smile.

"What?" Margo stared at him.

His smile grew and he turned a few levers and knobs, making something deep within the car whine loudly. "Well, was it not rude that our guest left without saying good bye?"

A slow realization dawned on the young girl's face and she broke into a smile. Grue gave her a sidelong glance, then dramatically pressed a blinking red button-initiating the turbo booster and shooting them towards the northern coastline at a breakneck speed.

_**A/N:**__ And they scatter! lol Hear that folks? Stephan's safe! And so is Margo! Well, really, everyone except Charming. And maybe Vector. Not really sure what happened to him _


	13. Chapter 13

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part 13)**

"It's _Saturday_?!" Stephan yelped, his eyes going wide. The last time he'd been fully aware of the date was apparently five days ago-the day he and Hiccup had gotten kidnapped. Now he was seriously behind schedule. "Mother is going to _murder_ me."

"Don't worry, we've got another day or so left," Hiccup tried to assure him. "Maybe you'll get lucky and they aren't there yet."

"Or your dad's managed to cover for you," Astrid suggested.

Stephan doubted it, but he smiled in thanks for their attempts to help. He was tired and shaky and fighting dizziness from the headache, but he wasn't about to tell them that. At least they'd managed to send the others back to Berk so that he was traveling with just the two fastest dragons. But it had taken two and a half days to get to the Northern Ports by land on the way _to_ Berk, Uncle Derek's castle was at least another day's travel north-east. How could a dragon cover that much distance in time? And why were they stopping at some greasy fast-food place?

"We should keep going," Stephan said as he glanced toward the hills marking the Empire's boarder.

"You haven't eaten in like three days," Astrid pointed out, yanking him around to walk in front of her as an ordering window opened up. "And you probably have a concussion. We can't roll back time, but an hour difference isn't going to mean anything by this point."

The prince frowned, not wanting to agree with the obvious logic. Hiccup just kept quiet, there was never any use fighting Astrid, but Stephan could figure that out on his own.

"Welcome to Friar's Fat Boy," a lanky teenager with a bored voice said from across the counter. "Can I take your order?"

Stephan looked to his new friends, not entirely certain why he was fearful of speaking. There had been a reason his father had kept him quiet before, right? But what was it...

"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked softly, looking at the prince with a concerned frown.

Astrid, however, gave an agitated sigh, understanding the problem even if Hiccup was oblivious, and pushed around the boys to the window. "He can't talk here, remember? Idiot," she grumbled, then looked up at the teen worker. "Yeah, three number fives," she said quickly. "One without cheese and medium colas."

The teen behind the counter mindlessly punched numbers into the machine in front of him. The boys, however, were staring at Astrid.

"What?" she snapped.

Stephan and Hiccup exchanged glances. "How'd you do that?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid blushed, but rolled her eyes. "We've been in line for at _least_ twenty minutes," she said. "I watched everyone else."

The boys exchanged glances again, both looking as though they should have realized that, which made Astrid smirk as she turned back to the counter.

"Uhh, anything else?" The window worker asked.

"Nope," Astrid said confidently.

"Alright," the teen said. "That'll be twenty-one-fifty."

Instantly the three teens looked to each other. Did they even have money on them? The money Stephan had gotten from Margo had been dropped on the sidewalk when Vector showed up, and he highly doubted dealing what little Disney Dollars he had would help them.

"Here."

They jumped when a hand reached around them and slapped a credit card on the counter. The three young teens looked up to see a bald man with a long nose and black jacket smiling at the window waiter. "But add another number five, two number threes, six medium fries, and a number one-ten waters and a sprite."

Astrid and Hiccup were ready to run, but Stephan stared with wide eyes. The teen behind the window merely blinked. "Kay."

Hiccup glared suspiciously up at the man paying for their dinner. "What are you—?"

"You didn't think you could actually leave without saying good-bye, did you?" a young incredulous voice asked.

All three looked up to see two small girls, one wearing far too much pink and another who's hair looked like a scallion, standing in front of another girl. A petite brunette with square-framed glasses and sparkling brown eyes. Stephan's face lit up with a smile.

~~°o°~~

"Margo!" Stephan couldn't help letting a laugh escape him. "What-?"

"Shhh!" Astrid snapped, clapping a hand over his mouth and glancing at some nearby customers. "_Not. here_."

Stephan pulled himself free and frowned at the blonde Viking.

Astrid rolled her eyes, then shoved Hiccup forward. "You two go get a table-away from the other customers," she instructed. "I'll wait with him for the food."

"Uh, yeah, ok," Hiccup said reluctantly. "You're sure?"

"I'll be fine," Astrid said, smirking at him.

"We got a table over here," the pink girl announced and started leading the way.

Giving Astrid a final cautioning glance, Hiccup nodded for Stephan to follow the girls. Stephan gave him a smirk, then hurried over to the table the sisters had selected. It was in the far corner of the sitting area and the three tables surrounding were filled with the little yellow chattering things from the Grue's house. No one would be able to hear his accent above their's.

"What are you doing here?" Stephan asked, smiling as he sat down at a picnic table.

"You forgot to take the money with you when we-uh-went to Vector's," she said, blushing a little. "I figured you might need it."

He grinned at her. "It looks like you were right."

She blushed deeper as her smile grew. They waited in a strangely comfortable silence, both simply happy with the other's company. And listening to the conversation next to them, where Hiccup was doing battle with Margo's sisters.

"Are you coming back home with us?" Margo's youngest sister asked.

"Uh, no," Hiccup answered.

"Can we keep your dragon?" the pink-clad one asked.

"No."

"Can we ride it?"

"No."

"Awe, c'mon! Just one flight."

"You kidnapped me!"

"Yeah, so? You were fine."

"Edith," Margo groaned, but joined Stephan in chuckling. "Maybe next time you should ask before you kidnap someone."

The pink girl pouted, but eventually smirked. "Fine...Can we kidnap you again?"

"Edith!"

"What?!"

"No." Hiccup answered readily.

Stephan just laughed.

~~°o°~~

"You think it'll be a problem crossing then?" Astrid was asking as she and Grue returned with two heavily loaded trays of food.

"Could be," the man said, handing out containers of fries to the tables of his minions distractedly as he thought. "They are not exactly kind to people who cross boarders anymore. Even if it is only to Bluthia."

Astrid nodded thoughtfully, setting her tray down and sitting between the boys at the picnic table as Grue sat across from her with his daughters. After she'd sent them off to visit with the Grue girls, the evil genius had struck up a conversation about the battle they'd had only a few hours ago. Somehow it had turned into a conversation about how to get Stephan back to his father. Being a super villain, apparently, had its advantages. Like a web of informants that spanned the empires.

"What do you suggest?" she asked finally, taking a french fry as those around her set into their burgers.

Grue pondered the question as he chewed. "Well," he said, then managed to swallow. "Night-time travel is good, so you are on the right track. And dragons-flying is definitely good."

Stephan stopped chewing, looking up with an intensity in his eyes as told Astrid he was ready to spring into battle-mode. "You expect trouble?"

Astrid glanced at the man across from her and sighed. "Possibly," she said. "Mr Grue says the boarders have apparently increased the patrols since Queen Odette went missing."

The prince's eyes snapped to his former captor. Grue looked the boy over and put his food down, recognizing the look as a call for war council. He had to admit he was impressed. He hadn't realized it before, but the kid emanate power as much as any royal he'd ever threatened.

"There are more patrols," Grue confirmed. "On random schedules and longer detaining times. They have heightened magical barriers on both sides of the boarder. I have heard tell of griffins being used on the Bluthia side, though most are performing aerial searches for the queen."

"Why?" Stephan asked, frowning. "Queen Odette has gone missing many times before—at least six times within her first three years of marriage to King Derek. And they've never used griffins."

Grue gave him an apologetic look. "The kingdoms have changed a lot since then," he said, with a shrug. "There are rumors that a dark magic was involved."

Stephan's eyes grew large and Astrid could feel him tense next to her, setting his jaw determinedly as his mind went spinning with thoughts.

"Dragons can take out griffins," Hiccup said, though he wore a tactical expression similar to Stephan's. "And I doubt their marksmen are good enough to hit a Night Fury."

"Or a Deadly Nadder," Astrid put in, flashing him a proud smile.

But Stephan shook his head. "I don't think that's accurate," he said grimly, turning towards the hills again with a speculative frown. "In Bluthia, they still battle dragons and similar creatures—darker creatures than Toothless or Stormfly. If they spot either dragon, there's a high probability that they fire without hesitation."

"Great," Hiccup huffed.

"Well, we'll just have to go as fast as we can," Astrid said. "Our dragons are the fastest around and perfect for stealth."

Stephan didn't look convinced. In fact, Astrid was sure he was growing more and more antsy-and there was definitely a lot of calculating going on inside his head. So she was ready when he moved.

"We need to go," he announced, jumping to his feet.

Before anyone else could move, Astrid grabbed hold of his wrist and yanked him back down to the bench. "As I said before," she said. "You haven't eaten in days, you're definitely not in your best condition, and an hour won't make any difference."

"Actually, the darker it gets, the better it might be to sneak over there," Margo said.

Stephan looked at her, strangely seeming to consider her opinion a little longer than the others' before he picked up a french fry.

"Look, I know you're worried about your family," Astrid started.

But the prince shook his head, twirling the fry in his fingers for a few seconds before tossing it back onto the pile. "It's been a week," he said. "They should have found her by now. They always find her and save her before a week's out."

Astrid and Hiccup exchanged glances. Margo reached across the table, closing her hand around his. "They'll find her," she assured him. "And once you get there, you'll be able to help, too."

He sighed and shook his head, then looked up at her with a tired smile. "You'd think I'd be used to this by now."

Margo smiled back, but that was all the pair said.

~~°o°~~

"Will you come back to visit ever?" Margo asked in an obvious attempt to sound nonchalant.

Once the teens had finished what they could of their dinner (and stored Stephan's for later), the Grue family went with the travelers a few blocks away to an alleyway behind an old decrepit barn, where the younger Grues were delighted to find two of their favorite dragons. Hiccup and Astrid had stayed with Grue, working out last minute details about what to do next and negotiating supplies. Margo and Stephan were standing near the dragons, even though they scared her a little (they were giant air lizards, there was really nothing appealing about the idea).

Stephan looked up, having been keeping an eye on her sisters as they kept trying to go near the beasts. He looked tired and distressed, but he gave her a small smile and his eyes lit up at the thought. "I don't know," he said. "I'd like to, but I doubt sneaking over would be a good idea again."

"Probably not," Margo agreed, though coming with a fanfare didn't exactly sound like a good way to keep Charming at bay either. "Maybe I could try to visit the Disney Empire."

His smile grew. "I think you should," he said. "They've got excellent schools, after all."

"Do they?" Margo asked, her eyes shining. "I might have to look into that."

"You might," he agreed.

"Woah!" The teens' attention snapped up just as the sounds of wood being impaled cut through the air. Both gaped at the sight of Margo's sisters being essentially pinned to the side of the barn by strange looking spikes, and looking weirdly delighted by this. Glancing at each other, Stephan and Margo looked to the dragons and the prince could swear Stormfly was looking pleased with herself.

"That was awesome!" Edith announced, grinning.

Margo groaned and rubbed her temple, but she couldn't help giving a small laugh and Stephan joined her.

"Hey, Stephan," Hiccup called out as he and Astrid joined them. "You ready to-what happened?"

"Well, I think that's a sign," Astrid said brightly, adjusting the strap of her saddle bag. "Time to go!"

At that, she pulled Hiccup from his wide-eyed staring towards the dragons. Stephan followed along behind them and took Astrid's bag as she soothed her dragon. Hiccup, after shaking off his shock, turned to give Toothless an affectionate scratch.

"Everything set?" Margo asked as the Vikings and prince prepared to leave.

"Yep," Hiccup announced, swinging himself into the saddle. "Ready to get away from all the crazy—uh—no offense..."

"None taken," Margo assured him as the young Viking blushed sheepishly.

Stephan chuckled and looked back at her. "If I'm ever back in Dreamworks, I'll let you know."

"We're actually a sub-country sort of thing," Margo said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "People just lump us into Dreamworks because we don't have all that great of a government."

"Oh." Both of the boys took in the information, neither really knew what to do with it.

"So, yeah, if you don't want to set off the customs alarms, just send it to Illusion," she said.

"I will," Stephan promised with a smile, tucking the note into his sleeve.

Margo beamed. Astrid cleared her throat and made an obvious movement of getting into Stormfly's saddle.

"Uh, yeah, so, we need to get going," Hiccup interrupted awkwardly. "You know, so we don't-uh-get you in trouble? We're already a day behind."

"Right," Stephan said, the responsible spark back in his eyes, and took a half step towards the dragons before he turned back to Margo. Half worried about the customs outside of Disney, he almost didn't do it, but in the end he decided he didn't care what the reaction was as he took hold of her hand and kissed it. "Thank you."

The petite girl went bright red and her sisters started cooing at them from their spots on the wall, but Margo recovered quickly and, once he'd released her, gave him a strong hug. So it was his turn to jerk in surprise. For royals back home, hugging was more for family and relatives. But he couldn't help liking it and he did his best to hug her back.

"Thank you, too," she said into his chest, then let go.

He gave her another smile and they parted awkwardly, each glancing back once or twice as they went to their respective teasing parties. Though Margo didn't bother to free her sisters and Stephan found himself back on Toothless instead of holding onto Astrid.

"Good luck!" Margo shouted, waving as the dragons took to the air.

Stephan looked back and waved as well, but soon both dragons and their riders had become just specks in the darkening sky. Sighing contently, Margo turned back to her family and found a proud smile on her father's face. She folded her arms at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, time to go," Grue announced, ushering everyone back to their car. "For reals now, it will be way past bed time when we get home as is. Come on, Margo!"

"Coming," she answered and, with one more glance towards the eastward sky, she climbed in.

~~°o°~~

"You know," Hiccup said as they took to the air. "Since they're not entirely part of Dreamworks, you could probably get into their part of the country easier."

Stephan let out a laugh and shook his head. "I doubt it."

"Whatever," Astrid said, rolling her eyes and urging Stormfly to go faster. "You can figure it out later."

Hiccup glanced at her curiously, but she glared at him from behind her faint blush before a smirk came to her face. "Ready to prove that we're faster than you?"

A smile found its way to Hiccup's face and he glanced at Stephan's confused expression before patting his dragon on the side. "You hear that buddy?" he asked down to Toothless, the dragon glanced back to give his own sort of smile. "Let's show them what we can do!"

_**A/N:**__ Yeah, kinda boring tid bit here, sorry. I'm not even fully sure any of it makes sense to be honest. My mind's just a big muddle at the moment. A few issues have hit me over the head as of late *sigh* But never fear! Stories eventually get typed!_


	14. Chapter 14

**Mousedom: Dangers & Dragons (part 14)**

"I have to admit," Astrid commented as the hilly boarder grew closer. "They were nice."

"Yeah," Hiccup agreed. "You almost wouldn't believe that they were the ones that kidnapped us."

Stephan chuckled, he couldn't agree more. Who would have guessed that the people who essentially started that whole mess would end up being the ones who helped them sneak across into Bluthia? Granted, he was still much more at ease now that they were on their way and well away from the strange family, even if Margo had proven herself to be a valued friend. Though not by much.

Now it was time to test the information Grue had given them and the boys found themselves practically holding their breaths as the first of the trees sped beneath them.

"So far so good," Hiccup muttered. They'd seen lights and small smoke trails of encamped guards scattered along the edge of the treeline, but nothing came their way. Once they'd started flying upward with the hill's incline, there was nothing at all. The whole ridge of hills was void of all human activity. But that was probably a good thing, since his dad had always told him that this was unwanted territory. Neither Bluthia or Dreamworks wanted to be linked to these forested hills and Hiccup could only imagine horrible things that existed down there.

With the occasional squirrel.

"You okay back there?" Hiccup asked as he felt the prince jolt slightly.

"Uh, yeah," Stephan rasped. "A little light-headed... must have been... holding my breath... Sorry."

Hiccup chuckled, then made sure to take a deep breath himself. "I know what you mean."

Stephan gave a small laugh too, sounding sheepish as he admitted, "Guess I'm still nervous from this week."

"Yeah, well, with good reason," Hiccup assured him, glancing back to give his friend a reassuring glance.

The prince gave a snort of laugh, but he smiled as he gazed down on the rolling hills of trees. Even having been flying for several minutes, they were only just past half way over it all. Had he and his father really traveled across all of this? Surely it hadn't been that vast... had it? Maybe they'd traveled through a narrower section.

"See?" Astrid called to them as Stormfly glided closer. "Nothing to worry about! We'll have you to the castle in-."

It was as if the air around them exploded. Stormfly went blown backwards, arcing upwards momentarily before careening gracelessly down to the forest below. Toothless rolled in the air, with the two boys holding on for dear life.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, searching the ground frantically for any sight of the blonde as Toothless let out several panicked roars.

"Over there!" Stephan rasped, pointing to something still falling through the air.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelped. The dragon instantly whipped around, charging through the air as fast as lightning towards the unconscious Viking.

In the blink of an eye, Astrid was gone and Hiccup almost thought they might have over-shot her. "Did you get her?"

Toothless looked down to his clawed front paws, then managed to nod to his riders. Only Hiccup noticed the dragon hadn't attempted to smile.

"We need to set down," he said, glancing back at Stephan.

The prince looked conflicted, and a little ashen from the flight, but gave a decided nod and Hiccup patted the dragon's side. Toothless's ears perked at the silent command and soon they came to a bumpy landing in a small glade.

As soon as the dragon set foot on the ground, both boys tumbled unceremoniously off either side of the dragon and into the grass. Toothless made some chiding noises and Hiccup pushed himself to his feet, running to take Astrid from the dragon's hold and ease her to the ground.

She was out cold and a small gash ran along her hairline, but otherwise she looked okay. Actually, she kinda looked better than Stephan did. The younger boy was shaking a little and still looked a bit gray in color when he joined them. Maybe it had been a bad idea to force him to eat.

"How is she?" the prince asked, looking at the girl with large eyes.

Hiccup shrugged. "Good, so far as I can guess," he said with a sigh. "But we're in trouble now."

"What do you mean?" Stephan asked, instantly more alert and glancing around. But nothing else was coming into the clearing, Toothless's restless circling assured that.

"This is the Dividing Ridge," Hiccup explained. "Nobody in their right mind comes through here-well, unless they're on a path. Which is the only way I can imagine you and your dad got through."

Stephan nodded absently, then looked towards the sky in the direction they'd come from. "Who do you suppose fired upon us?"

"I dunno," Hiccup responded, getting to his feet. "But we'll have to find out."

"How?" the prince asked skeptically. "We can't fly there. Astrid-"

"We'll walk," Hiccup said simply. "Toothless can carry Astrid and we'll scout around him."

If he'd thought that this idea would have made the air-sick prince happier, he was wrong. It was an easy read on the blonde boy's face that he thought this was a bad idea. But, really, what other choice did they have?

"Its either that or Toothless and I check the air and you guard Astrid," Hiccup pointed out. When Stephan's expression turned a little too thoughtful for comfort, he quickly added, "You're injured and ill-."

"I'm not-."

"-And we only have maybe two daggers and a dozen rocks between us," Hiccup finished firmly, willing the boy to understand that right now was not the time to play hero.

Stephan gave him a rueful smile, then sighed and shook his head. "Alright," he said in defeat. "Walking it is."

~~°o°~~

They might have gone a mile and a half. Maybe more. It was hard to tell while you were going over such a rocky terrain, but the fact that his legs felt like they were going to break off below the knees told Stephan they'd gone enough of a distance that they could get seriously lost if they weren't heading in the right direction.

Hiccup seemed pretty sure of himself when they found scorch marks and then strange spikes as long as his forearm. Which was a bit of a relief for Stephan even if he'd never admit it. He was exhausted-physically, mentally-you name it. He was only hoping that they found their way into Bluthia and safety before he lost his emotions, too. The last thing he'd have wanted was to be in charge of direction.

The stars were shining brightly and the half-moon was at least a third through its rotation through the sky before they reached a wide stream cutting through the forest. In a way it was a good thing they'd stopped there, since Astrid promptly woke up from her place atop Toothless's saddle. At the same time it might have been bad since she also wanted to try drowning the boys for letting her dragon get taken.

Given how he felt so far, Stephan simply sat alongside the water and soaked his feet while Hiccup tried to calm her down. "Urgh! What_ever_!" Astrid finally snapped, dropping onto a boulder next to Stephan. "How close are we to finding her?"

"Shouldn't be far," Stephan said, catching the helpless expression on Hiccup's face, though it attracted a dangerous expression from Astrid. "We've been walking back for ages now."

"And even if they did manage to get her away, I doubt they could have gotten her far," Hiccup chimed in, tentatively joining them and giving Astrid a wary smile. "She's too much like you."

The compliment did wonders and brought a proud smirk to Astrid's face. "They don't know what they've gotten themselves into."

Hiccup's smile broadened and Stephan chuckled. "No," Stephan agreed. "I doubt they do."

A loud splash made them jump in alarm, but when the three teens turned it was to see Toothless going after what fish he could find in the shallow water. Hiccup and Astrid nearly burst out laughing and Stephan let himself slouch with a sigh. He let his eyes close for a moment, just basking in the slight peace that he was in. It was almost hard to believe that it was only this morning he'd been threatened for his throne.

He jerked his eyes open again as a hand roughly shook his shoulder. Realizing he was still next to the river, though not in it anymore, he found himself face to face with Hiccup who motioned for Stephan to stay silent.

The prince gave him a questioning glance, but nodded and instead busied himself with pulling his boots back on. Astrid had her dagger out, still looking intimidating as she glared into the surrounding trees. Toothless looked just as agitated, but after a moment he let out a low growl and pointed further across the river.

"What is it?" Stephan whispered finally.

"Toothless smells something," Hiccup said, handing him a dagger.

Stephan looked down at the weapon, momentarily wondering if it was a good idea for him to take it since the last one they'd lent him was lost in Dreamworks somewhere. But Hiccup's attention was back on his dragon, so Stephan tried not to feel awkward while he held the knife.

Attempting to figure out what time it was, Stephan looked upward and blinked in surprise. A plume of smoke was drifting across their patch of sky, and only faintly dissipated. Somebody was camping not too far away.

"Look," he said, giving his friends a tug on their arms and pointing to the sky.

"Toothless," Hiccup said after a moment. "How do you feel about following that smoke, buddy?"

The dragon let out a little eager sound, much like one of King Philip's hunting dogs would, and pranced a little where he stood. Apparently the idea of flying was sorely desired.

~~°o°~~

Riding a dragon again wasn't exactly something Stephan would instantly say he was looking forward to, but it beat walking and so he found himself holding onto Astrid as she shouted orders into Hiccup's ear.

It didn't take long to find the camp, the smoke had been coming from a bonfire set in the middle of a small ravine, making the landmark look like something of a giant eye that watched them circle around for a landing place. Toothless carefully set them down by an odd structure of rocks that seemed to create a little bit of a cave on the slightly wider end of the eye.

Astrid sank down and crawled to the edge for a better look. Exchanging glances, the boys quickly followed her. The area didn't look much different up close than it had in the air. The space might have been created by a steady stream or brook, but judging by how dry and feeble the few bushes appeared from where they'd tried to grow out of the walls-all water was long since gone. There were still plenty of rocks, though, and there were make-shift homes and lean-tos scattered around, so it wasn't entirely desolate.

Most of the occupants of this strange little camp were around the bonfire, laughing and fighting and eating their fill of unidentifiable food that made Stephan's stomach churn. Beyond the fire there seemed to be another form of building, a stable perhaps, and a fenced area keeping something big.

Next to him, Astrid inhaled sharply and pulled away from the edge. "Stormfly."

"You're sure?" Hiccup asked as he and Stephan followed.

"Positive," she reported, then bolted down the length of the gorge.

Hiccup gave a sigh, then motioned for Stephan to follow as he went after her with Toothless in tow.

This end of the eye had a strange rock formation much like the other, though it was smaller and the boulders looked more like three stubby fingers that created windows to peer through. Down below, there was definitely a stable, though Stephan was fairly sure no horses were inside, and a massive pen holding none other than the Deadly Nadder. Poor Stormfly was tied down in a web of ropes so she could only thrash against them in hopes of escaping as a group of vile looking men harassed her. Even her tail, with its dangerous spikes, was wisely tied down to keep them safe.

"These guys weren't taking any chances," Hiccup commented, watching the antics with disgust.

"Yeah," Astrid quietly scoffed, "Except for taking her in the first place."

Stephan nodded in agreement, but he was busily analyzing the terrain and their chances of getting the ten feet down without being spotted. Under them, slightly hidden by a number of large rocks and briar bushes, was a strange gap in the formation of the walls that wormed its way down to the dusty ground below. It was steep and definitely left you in the open until you got most of the way down, but if they could get the bandits away from Stormfly it could definitely be an advantage.

He was about to point this out to the Vikings when Hiccup tugged them down further behind the rocks. "Shh! Someone's coming!"

They waited a moment as they heard an elevation in the jovial shouts of the bandits, but as they heard grunts of protests and struggles, Stephan inched up to see again. It was some of the bandits from the fireside, looking as though they'd gotten tired of the antics over there. But then why were they dragging two smaller men to the stables?

Stephan's stomach dropped. Those weren't men, they were boys. Tied up and gagged and, judging by how one of them was entirely slack in the bandits' hold, injured.

He shifted again for a better look as the smaller of the two was tossed unceremoniously into a stall. The taller was putting up a fight, twisting and turning and attempting to kick out at anything near him. One of the bandits laughed cruelly at his attempts and pulled the kid back by his hair. That's when Stephan caught a glimpse of the boy's face.

The boy was angry, with good reason, and a good six years older than Stephan with golden brown hair that was understandably in disarray. Stephan didn't have to be any closer to know that these weren't any ordinary boys getting roughed up and deposited in a grotesque stand-in for a holding cell.

At least one of them he knew very well: William, crowned prince of Swan Lake.

_**A/N:**__ Aaaaand the journey to safety proves to be just as difficult as the visit to Dreamworks!... Yeah, my head kinda hurts, hopefully everything reads well. Let me know if there's something screwy!_


End file.
